Later on in his years, Gallo was asked by a reporter if he was still enjoying life. “More than ever,” he said. “With great wines like these to drink every night, who wouldn’t?”

After his father had shot and killed his mother and then turned the gun on himself, Gallo was unsure of what the future held for him. All he knew was that he now had his father’s vineyard on his hands. How did this boy who never excelled in school turn a vineyard and a loan of $5,000 into a global empire and a personal net worth of $1.2 billion?

Branding: Not every product that Gallo ventured into worked. In 1974, he introduced high quality, cork-finished varietal wines, but they quickly failed. Many said he was better off sticking to what he knew: cheap, fortified wines with nothing fancy about them except their names. Still, Gallo remained determined that he could create high quality wines using the same brand name. By adapting his advertising strategy, Gallo slowly began to convince the world that the Gallo brand could meet any market need.

Persistence: Working 12 to 16-hour days was nothing out of the ordinary for Gallo. In the beginning, when E&J Gallo Winery was made up of only E&J, the two brothers made it their mission to work as hard as they possibly could to make up for what they lacked. In the end, it was their dogged hard work that helped set them apart from the rest.

Ruthlessness: Gallo made no bones about it: if something had to be done for the sake of his company’s success then so be it. From aggressively under-pricing his competition to demanding more from his workers, Gallo let his competitive spirit shine through whenever it was needed.

Connections: Gallo was not a political man by any stretch of the imagination. But, when the time came to think about his business, he was not above getting involved in politics to make his voice heard. He cultivated powerful connections and drew on those people when the time came. He understood the importance of relationships that worked for mutual benefit and prospered as a result.

Strategy: Gallo did not become an industry leader by accident. He worked hard to not only run his business, but to also structure the industry in a way that was beneficial to him. From tightly controlling distribution channels to funding in-house research and development, Gallo implemented a strategic plan to take him to the top.

“Whatever we do has always been for the future, this being a family-owned company,” Gallo once said. “We have another mountain to climb.” Gallo never got to climb that mountain, but today, his son leads the way. Gallo continues to be an industry leader and is slowly chipping away at its reputation for nothing more than cheap, strong wines. The company continues to win blind testings around the world, demonstrating that above and beyond anything else, all it really comes down to is the wine.

A successful entrepreneur, a strategic advisor to world leaders, an award-winning speaker and an internationally best-selling author, Tony Robbins has become one of the world’s most recognized authorities in the life coaching industry. Through his seminars and audiotapes, Robbins is helping millions of people around the world live a more fulfilled life. How did he create the life he wanted for himself?

Lesson #1: Your Potential is Determined By Your Self-Belief

“The only thing that's keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself,” says Robbins. “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”

Lesson #2: Personal Power is the Ability to Take Action

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action,” says Robbins. “Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision…It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”

Lesson #3: Anything is Possible with Passion and Purpose

Ask anyone who has attended a Tony Robbins seminar to describe the experience in one word and you are likely to hear words such as “energetic” or “enthusiastic.” If there is one thing that Robbins is known for above all else, it is the passion with which he approaches life. Whether he is speaking to an audience of 2,000 or a single journalist, Robbins can’t help but be passionate.

“Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want,” says Tony Robbins. For the past 15 years, Robbins has been doing exactly that. As one of the most celebrated motivational speakers and life coaches in the world, Robbins has come from humble beginnings to rise to the top of his game. He not only talks about how to achieve success; with best-selling books and seminars behind him, as well as being Chairman of five private companies that together generate over half of $1 billion, Robbins has himself become a successful entrepreneur and a model of what it takes in order to achieve your dreams.

Read the complete Anthony Robbins story here.

“I’m pretty happy with the way everything has worked out with UFC,” says White. “We’ve come a long way in a couple of years.” From working as a hotel bellhop to managing a multi-million dollar company, White has most certainly come a long way from where he started off. How did this boy who could barely make it through high school, become a millionaire and the envy of men across America?

Lesson #1: It Takes Passion to Win the Fight

In speaking to the new graduates, White harped on the importance of finding a job that they are passionate about. “A lot of times, kids go to college and take a major because they do what they think they’re supposed to do,” said White. “I told them I believe 90 percent of America gets up in the morning and drives to a job they hate. That could have happened to me in the hotel industry.”

Lesson #2: Do Not Waste Time Marketing Outside Your Target Audience

“If you take four street corners, and on one they are playing baseball, on another they are playing basketball and on the other, street hockey,” says White. “On the fourth corner, a fight breaks out. Where does the crowd go? They all go to the fight.”

White knew that UFC could have a fighting chance in becoming a success if only he could focus on attracting the right people. From the very first day he took over operations at UFC, White has had a clear idea about who his audience was, and what kinds of people were going to be tuning in to his events. “UFC is definitely a younger guy's sport,” says White. “Our target audience is anywhere from age 17 to 35.”

Lesson #3: Give Them an Experience They Will Never Forget

“Three guys bought UFC when it was dead,” says White. “It was over. The sport was dead and no one cared.” But, if the sport was dead, how come these three guys decided to buy the UFC? Well, says White, “We didn’t buy this to make billions of dollars. We saw something in this sport and in the fighters that we thought was incredible.”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) used to be nothing more than an underground fighting league, and one which was scarcely accepted in the U.S. That was, until Dana White came along. White transformed the UFC into one of the most mainstream and popular sports on the scene today. By cleaning up its image and marketing it as a legitimate sport, White was able to create a successful organization, whose events can now be seen on television in more than 35 countries around the world.

Read the complete Dana White story here.

Every year I listen. Every year I listen intently with a half smile and a hopeful look. I really do love when people make resolutions – more often than not they make them about things that truly will change their lives in a positive way. I just wish they wouldn’t wait to flip the switch.

Maybe it’s the ‘now’ in my personality. Maybe it’s the expectation that making a big decision just because it’s “the thing to do” means it won’t last past the point where it’s no longer “the thing to do”. Now don’t get me wrong – I love the folks that give it their best shot. I just wish they wouldn’t sync it up with the dropping of a ball.

I recently blogged about "counting" and how the web has made it more popular than ever. We count upwards to denote progress. We count downwards to denote a change on the horizon. Either way it’s a bit useless. We count down to New Years – to a new beginning. I’d like to recommend we stop treating it that way. I’d like to propose we look at what we’re counting. For example...

After a campaign has run its course, the post mortem commences. You’ll look at the numbers you were trying to achieve and the numbers you did achieve. Then you’ll report these numbers to the folks who footed the bill and hopefully everyone goes for some cider at conversation’s end. It’s an all-or-nothing game and “the target” defines your success.

The really good marketers (salespeople, entrepreneurs, brands) look carefully at WHAT they chose to measure and re-visit its relevance. Virgin Mobile spent a lot of money in Canada this year. They made some headway in getting people signed up, but nothing special. The thing is though, people really took to the brand and when asked, preferred it over the other choices. The hurdle for next year is now that much clearer – make it easy to switch.

The Virgin analogy works like this; they COULD have tried to tackle everything this year. They could have said “this year we’re going to be the best”. Even if being the best was the goal, they will probably look at this year as a success. They took one step closer to being the company they want to be.

If you’re going to set a goal this New Years, make it a relative one – not an absolute. Absolutes, like quitting smoking, eating less junk food, or quitting one idea for another, tend to naturally follow a relative change. If you don’t like smoking anymore (for whatever reason), then ease up. If you still don’t like it, then I think you’ll find you won’t smoke anymore. If your company isn’t where it should be, would you wait until New Years before turning on a light switch and announcing the makeover?

Oh... and please, I beg of you... start right now or, at the very least, at 4:38pm on December 31st or 12:17am on January 9th. Do it for no other reason than to make this a “you” thing and not an “everybody” thing. It will last longer (like forever).

He went from charging five cents per ticket to viewing parties for his homemade movies to becoming the most commercially successful director in Hollywood history. He has challenged the industry by tackling difficult subjects in his films, working hard to reach the top of his game and remaining there for over thirty years. How did this shy, socially awkward boy from Cincinnati become one of the biggest and most respected names in Hollywood today?

Overcome Your Fears
“I still have pretty much the same fears I had growing up,” he says. “I've carried them with me right through my life until now. And I'm not sure I want to give those up because I think a lot of those insecurities are fuel for the stories that I tell.” He is still deathly afraid of flying on planes and riding on an elevator, as well as being in any closed-in spaces. But, it is these kinds of fears that he uses to drive his films. “That’s just the kind of scary stuff he would put in films like Poltergeist,” his mother says.

Know Where to Draw the Line
Despite the amount of control that Spielberg likes to have over all aspects of his film, he also knows where to draw the line. When directing actors, he gives the experienced ones the room they need to manoeuvre and the freedom to do so, typically only stepping in if he is working with less proven talent. “You can’t dictate creativity to someone else, and if you do, the project fails,” says Robert Zemeckis, director of such hits as Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. “Steven understands that, which is why we all want to work with him.”

Follow Your Passion
“The only time I’m totally happy is when I’m watching films or making them,” says Spielberg. It was only by engaging in his interests and following his enthusiasm that Spielberg was able to become the success that he is today. “I like the smell of film,” he says. “I just like knowing there’s film going through the camera.” His passion for every aspect of filmmaking drove him to try to achieve the best he could, and indeed, he did.

He has earned four Academy Awards, is worth over $2.8 billion and ranks number six on this year’s Forbes list of Top 100 Celebrities. Steven Spielberg is a household name, and one that has become synonymous with success. There is rarely a project to which he is attached that does not either receive critical acclaim or break a new box-office record. Throughout Hollywood, Spielberg is in fact considered the most successful director of all time.

As the days begin to get longer and the crocuses and daffodils begin to poke their heads through the earth, it is a perfect time to reflect on what you want to grow in your life. It is a time for new beginnings and here are five tips to help you create a happier, more fulfilling life:

• Pay attention to what makes you tired for a week. What people, tasks, situations or thoughts drain you of your energy? Make a list of these things.
• Figure out what you can let go of, either through delegation or just by saying “no” to doing those things or being with those people
• Do one thing per day that scares you - whether it’s turning down a social engagement with someone who annoys you, delegating something that you normally need to control or speak your mind in a sticky situation
• Fill the spaces in your life with people, tasks and experiences that fill you up and energize you
• Make no apologies for the choices you make - you only have to live with yourself

“Life is a sum of all your choices.”
Albert Camus

“To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.”
Kofi Annan

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

I remember fondly the anticipation of what was to come as we set up the board for an exciting round of “The Game of Life.” Game board out, cars packed with the appropriate number of pink and blue pegs, dice ready to roll. While this was simply a childhood way to spend a rainy afternoon, it occurs to me that in reality, all any of us is really doing is playing a giant, life-size round of “The Game of Life” on a daily basis. The question is whether or not we are in the driver’s seat or simply cruising along, dozing in the passenger seat.

The Game of Life is all Created by You
Life is a game that you make up as you go along. Just like in any good game, you may have a plan for where you’re headed, pack what you think you’ll need and gather the right team around you. However, you will also run into some inevitable obstacles that will challenge you to evolve and grow. The question is not what cards you’re dealt, but instead, what you choose to do with what you are given.

The Game Plan
A solid strategy is the key to winning almost any game. In life, you want to be clear on what your overall dreams are. Who are you, at your best? What are your core values? Where do you want to end up at the end of the day? This does not mean that you have to map out every step along the way. Just get clear about the big-picture and set the intentions that you will achieve all that you desire.

The Toolkit
In order to win at the game of life, you also want to make sure that you have all the tools you may require. What are the skills you will need to develop? What information do you need? What discipline do you need to follow? Who are the people that you need to surround yourself with, in order to succeed?

Chance
With all the planning in the world, there are times when “life” gets in the way and unexpected forks in the road arise. The question is how you will handle it when this does happen.

Perspective
Your success in handling change will be directly impacted by the attitude that you bring to the challenge. Optimism is a scientifically proven way to build resilience and keep stress levels low. Instead of jumping immediately to the victim place of “why is this happening to me” or “I knew it - everyone’s always out to get me,” replace those thoughts with something more empowering. Ask yourself some questions that will better serve you, like “What’s the lesson I’m supposed to learn here?” or “If I had to do it over, what would I have done differently?” or “What opportunities are now available that I may have missed before?”

One of my favourite perspectives is always “It could be worse.” Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I remember the tragedies of AIDS orphans in Africa, or any of the negative things that are happening in the world and it quickly helps me to get over myself and put things in perspective.

Options
The most important question you might ask yourself is “What are my options?” This automatically puts you in a position of possibility and choice - a much better place to be than feeling lost and doomed. Ask yourself what the best case scenario is, what the worst case scenario is, what a likely scenario is and what you need to know to make the best choices in the situation.

Make a Move
For each option, create a plan - and a back up plan - and get into action to create the outcome that you want. This could be to gather information, prepare mentally or logistically for a variety of options or simply leaping into the unknown. Sometimes you have to just do something in order to find the next piece of the puzzle.

Enjoy the Ride
Keep your eyes open and enjoy the scenery. Inevitably the detour that you thought was going to throw off your whole trip is the direct route to an even better adventure then any you could have planned.

“What I know for sure is that if you want to have success, you can’t make success your goal,” says Oprah Winfrey. “The key is not to worry about being successful, but to instead work toward being significant - and the success will naturally follow.”

What are Oprah’s secrets to success?

#1 Set High Goals

“I always knew I’d be a millionaire by age thirty-two,” said Oprah in 1987. “In fact, I am going to be the richest black woman in America.” 19 years later, with a net worth of $1.4 billion, Oprah has become not only the richest black woman in America, but also one of the richest people in the world.

This success has not come by chance. Oprah has made her fortune by setting clear and ambitious goals on both the professional and personal levels. “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret,” she says. “Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”

According to Oprah, the biggest hurdle people need to overcome in order to be successful is their belief that there are limits to how much they can accomplish. Goals need to be set and set high; expectations need to be limitless; and ambition cannot be restrained. “If you believe you can only go so far, it is an obstacle.”

#2 Rise Above Your Obstacles

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity,” says Oprah. “Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.”

Oprah is a woman of extremes; she is extremely successful, extremely powerful and extremely passionate about what she does. But, her success has come at the end of a long road of other extremes: obstacles. From sexual molestation to drug abuse to racism, Oprah has endured an inordinate amount of both personal and professional challenges on her path to becoming one of the richest women in the world.

#3 Find Your Passion

“Passion is energy,” says Oprah Winfrey. “Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

Since she first discovered her passion for communication while preaching Bible passages at her grandmother’s church at the young age of 3, Oprah has dedicated herself to fulfilling her passion. Overcoming numerous obstacles, Oprah focused all her abilities and activities on achieving her dream. She now regularly spends time on The Oprah Winfrey Show encouraging her audience to discover their passions and live the life of their dreams.

“What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and work that fulfills you, the rest will come,” she says. “And, I truly believe, that the reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is because my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.”

It’s worked. Today, Oprah’s Company, Harpo Studios, has 263 full-time employees, modest turnover (10% to 15% a year) and earns $275 million in revenues - Oprah believes she’s “just getting started.”

Last week I attended two conferences in my bid to become better networked and gain understanding into the phenomenon that is Open Source Marketing. Despite my recent graduation from U of T’s Management program, I managed to qualify for the student rate which jived with my budget. At the end of the week I began to reflect on my first experience as a semi-professional in these types of environments.

The first event was held by AIMS (Association of Internet Marketing and Sales). I followed that up with an event held by AMA (American Marketing Association) - both events were touching on the same topics which offered a good basis for comparison.

Let me first say this… make your presence felt. I came to realize how much more pressure there is in being at an event where networking is expected. It’s almost a different species in that everyone seems to be operating in a speed-dating manner. You really can’t afford to relax in these situations. Grab a coffee, do whatever you have to do, but make sure you are working the room. You have to balance your sincerity with the natural time constraints that exist. But this isn’t why I’m writing to you.

As someone who has recently felt the need to jump on The Boom 2, I’ve been toying with a lot of ideas regarding how to make an entry in an area I had little knowledge of even one month ago. For this reason I found the AIMS event particularly interesting. Their event was content-rich by comparison. I was looking for the subtle nuances that would reveal future opportunities and I was able to find a few with such in-depth analysis of the evolving industry. The audience also seemed to be suited to a ‘content-rich’ event. Attendees were mostly from New Media or were entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the same things as I was. The speaker was well-versed in where the concepts were headed and the event was generally well-received (and well-catered).

Two days later, I attended the AMA event on the advances of blogging (for all intents and purposes the conversation expanded to include many of the same topics as the AIMS event). The format of the event was very different however. It was a roundtable (literally) and the attendees were seated in 3 rows of circles that surrounded the speakers. The event was smaller in size (and catering) but also had it’s advantages. It really gave a bird’s eye view of the blogging revolution. I wondered if anyone else in the room felt that this information was generally available through a Google search. As I pondered this question, it became obvious why they had structured it this way. Many of the attendees were marketing professionals - from agencies, marcomms, or marketing personnel from non-marketing-oriented organizations. For them this was the perfect “news brief” on everything they needed to know to stay abreast of what was happening in their industry. For me it was a little redundant because of my experience at AIMS earlier in the week.

So what do I recommend? Well, as always, it depends. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to come up with or test a new idea, then my suggestion is to take as much information in as you can. In this case, the AIMS event would have proven more effective. I wanted to know if my initial instincts were on par and if they were I wanted to know about the hurdles I’d be likely to face. However, since I’m also an aspiring marketing professional these days, the AMA event could also be seen as value-add (for the future). Quite obviously these professionals have to bide their time. The AMA event was held at 7:30am so there was definitely a commitment on the part of the attendees. For them it was about getting a dose of what’s new in short form. I could see a seasoned entrepreneur enjoying this format too - someone who only wants to know the arena a little bit before they re-think all the constraints that the pioneers have declared to be present. The seasoned entrepreneur has the experience to compare this revolution to something that has already happened and likely prefers to keep the door open for new waves of thinking.

When you are deciding where to spend your marketing budget as a new business, I would have to strongly recommend that you go to events in your field and go there with a purpose. Think about the opportunities you are looking to generate. Send your best networker. And for every piece of information you take at face value, make sure there is an idea about how exploit that information in ways not yet thought of.

I encourage anyone who reads this column to send their insights, small business questions, or ‘ideas up for discussion’ to me at apeek@fieldlvl.com . The best part about an entrepreneurial spirit is sharing it with like-minded people and I most certainly welcome any discussions or ideas for new articles.

Off the bat, I’d like to encourage anyone who is reading these columns to drop me a line. I have an addiction to brainstorming and even a good question or a clever insight can set me off. It also amazes me what gets spun out of the simple beginnings of an email chain.

On that note I’m going to share with all you my premonition. That’s right… I have a prediction about the future. I’d be lying if I told you I was the only one sitting on this theory but never the less, it’s something that the youthful generation of entrepreneurs should begin to embrace immediately.

Virtual. This is the model by which corporations will be built. This is how a firm’s assets will be defined. Every business, if not entirely devoted to, will soon partake in the world of virtual. Now let me explain.

It used to be that you had a great idea and subsequently walked into your market daring to be the best. That worked for a while but when the market dissipated you were left without a direction. That’s why we see that declining stage in the famous Product Life Cycle - because inevitably you’re out of business. So as the Cassette gave way to the CD gave way to MP3 and onwards to oblivion, we saw these once dominant players desperately selling off divisions and assets. Essentially they were calling it a day on a pretty good run.

For our generation, things will be different. There is only one real asset you’ll need to protect and nurture as an entrepreneur - intellectual capital. See, buying up bricks and mortar, equipment and extended warranties, or cubicles and photocopiers, isn’t as necessary as it once was. You’ll notice a lot of existing companies with huge infrastructures that suddenly realize there is a shift in their customer’s needs and that they can’t re-configure their four million dollar production facility to make the new widgets needed for tomorrow. That’s why you need to manage your intellect more than anything else. It’s about the only asset that moves as fast as today’s elusive markets.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with and within several start-ups who create entirely in virtual space. They have project managers and communication technologies that, believe or not, generate more conversation than currently exists between John in cubicle 3A and Theo is cubicle 3C. Working with these companies can be an unbelievably energetic experience, where thoughts become ideas become reality faster than you can say “I need your month’s-end by morning”.

The best feature that these virtual companies have embraced is flexibility. They use their intellectual prowess as a tool to foresee where the next wave of action will be and then pick the right talent out of the virtual network to get the project underway. Now by no means is this a plug for everyone to go start up a virtual company, but what you should consider is how flexible your company will be.

My partners and I started our beanbag company on variable costs alone. Even if we were going to lose a small fraction by renting the same thing over and over again, it was still worth it for us to maintain the flexibility that would be required to run a business while in school. Add to this that we were doing our market research on the fly (a common entrepreneurial practice), it was safe to assume sufficient changes were going to be made as we progressed as a company. Having only variable costs meant that we knew exactly what our margins were, we knew how far we could deviate and still make money, and we knew that if it turned out that potatoes had a better market than beanbags… well, we could scrap the whole operation altogether.

It’s quite obvious that some businesses will always need an element of bricks and mortar but here is one piece of advice if yours happens to fit that bill. Don’t ever purchase an asset out of convenience. Buy the asset because it adds a strategic weapon to your arsenal. Make every asset your focus because if you treat it differently it might easily become obsolete in today’s age of rapid change.

How many times have you heard someone say something like, “Video games are such a waste of time.” Or worse, are you the one saying it? Are you a Video Game ‘Hater’?

Some of you may think of video games as juvenile, but what’s childish about a $20 billion global industry that’s been growing from 5 to 10% every year for the past decade. Last I checked that $20 billion was bigger than the film industry.

Did you know that the average game player is 30 years old or that 43% of video game players are women? You may be surprised by how many of your employees, customers, and partners play video games.

Now, I know some of you may come up with a million other reasons why Video Games are the apocalypse, but I’m not here to argue with you. All I’m asking is to play along and have fun thinking about the opportunities video games can provide for your SMB.

In fact, understanding the impact, benefits and best practices of this industry might actually help you win more often and have fun doing so.

Helping To Build Tomorrow’s Businesses:
Many studies show that game players are better at making rapid decisions than others. In fact, gamers are helping nurture a number of business related skills such as:

• Multi-tasking abilities for increased productivity.
• Virtual collaborative skills for better teamwork and decision-making.
• Cognitive problem solving skills for greater leadership development.
• Training capabilities for inexpensive yet enhanced employee learning.

Usage of the video game model is being applied in many industries for a variety of audiences and purposes.

Educational video games have become an effective learning tool for kids in classrooms, thus businesses are adopting these lessons by using engaging video game formats to train and educate their employees.

Business schools are using online stock market simulator games and product marketing games to train tomorrow’s high flyers.

Other high flyers such as air pilots and astronauts use flight simulators to learn not only how to fly, but how to deal with emergency situations as well.

Health services companies are using game programs for virtual patient simulations for better product development.

Other companies are using gaming models for more dynamic product demonstrations. Architects are using video game technologies such as 3D graphics, animation, modeling and rendering applications for their work.

The impact of the video game industry cannot be denied. Audiences are growing and becoming so diverse that many companies are increasingly placing ads within the actual game (In-game advertising or product placement) for greater marketing impact.

Overall, more businesses are using elements of the video game model to increase productivity, improve employee skills and deliver more dynamic services and products.

So consider how emulating elements of the video game model can help your business and how much fun you’ll have improving it.

In our work with leaders in organizations we are always looking to build on strengths. In general, this is a great strategy as it is much wiser to do more of what works, rather than waste time trying to become adequate at everything. However, there is a danger of depending too heavily on certain strengths. At some point, too much of a good thing becomes toxic.

I was working with Luke, a senior executive who had built his career and exceptional reputation around his ability to build consensus and encourage collaboration. He knew how to win people over and make them like him. What we discovered through the coaching was that his strength of being well-liked was actually becoming a weakness, as he had been avoiding conflict in order to preserve relationships.

We challenged him to risk not being liked for the sake of speaking his truth. It was very scary for him at first but what he noticed was that people were really responding to him and showing him much more respect. He sought out feedback from some trusted peers and learned that the impact he was having was nowhere near offensive, though it was very strong from his perspective. He learned he had a lot more room to play before coming close to ruining relationships, but at the end of the day, he was a much more effective leader due to his newfound ability to confront issues that needed to be dealt with.

As Dr. Seuss says in Oh, the Places You’ll Go, “Life’s a great balancing act.” Ask yourself what your top three strengths are. Where are you depending too heavily on these strengths so that they are verging on becoming weaknesses?

Happy New Year to all and I hope your holidays were most enjoyable.

As that familiar theme of Auld Lang Syne ushered in 2006, I’m sure there were some of you who playfully made resolutions for the New Year. But what about New Year’s Resolutions for your business?

For SMBs, the challenges still remain the same in terms of sustaining growth, increasing your speed to market, and improving your customer service.

With a new year however, comes new ways of helping meet the above challenges. One way of doing this is by looking at emerging technologies that can improve your business operations.

Not a bad idea considering SMBs plan on spending $72.9 Billion in technology, up from $65.8B in 2005, according to research group IDC.

So what technology resolutions should you consider making this year?

Safety First:

The first thing to consider: How secure is your business?

Making sure your business is not vulnerable to potential intrusions or obstructions will go a long way in preventing long, costly downtimes to your operations. You can’t make money, if your business isn’t running, right?

According to a Gartner report, the growth of new applications such as mobile computing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), XML, and Instant Messaging will make security (i.e. viruses, spam) a major challenge for SMBs in 2006.

If beefing up your security becomes too burdensome, consider outsourcing these responsibilities to managed services providers who can take the load off, so your staff can focus on other things.

If you outsource your home security to someone, why not for your business as well?

Shedding Off That Excessive Baggage:

So the holidays are over and you want to shed all that excessive baggage, right?

Being more nimble can also be applied to your business by using wireless technologies that can help you and your staff work unshackle yourselves from all those cumbersome wires for anywhere, anytime for greater productivity.

Help your people achieve a mobile state of utopia by providing employees access to back office data and applications such as order taking, order status, contact info, e-mail and CRM, whenever and wherever they may roam.

Your employees save time in doing tasks, and reduce potential mistakes. This helps increase productivity and customer satisfaction while reducing costs.

Think Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) and maybe even RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

You Can Always Communicate More:

Are you reaching out to your consumers enough? With so many electronic channels such as e-mail, wireless phones, PDAs, the Internet, satellite radio, interactive television, and digital music players, your opportunities in reaching out to customers can be enhanced through the delivery of dynamic digital media.

Digital media files such as digital photographs, videos, digital audio via podcasting, PDFs, and other images can help your businesses enhance its marketing power by creating new compelling user experiences.

More engaging communications can result in better customer loyalty and brand awareness, and improve your speed-to-market for services and products, to potentially grow new revenue streams.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better:

The proliferation of new customer channels such as wireless, interactive TV, and digital media players have resulted in new potential revenue streams via Microcommerce.

Microcommerce refers to the purchase of low dollar value online goods and services (usually under $5), using electronic payment methods.

Microcommerce caters to those online consumers who buy music, video games and ring-tones yet are the least likely to have a credit card or use their credit card online for such a small charge.

Business can now unbundle products and services and sell it profitably online, in small units. What new opportunities await for your business?

Stick To Your Resolutions:

Staying secure and operational in light of ever growing threats will help your business healthy.

Wireless technologies can help your business be more nimble in its operations for greater productivity, reduced costs and improved customer responsiveness.

Digital Media can enhance your customer reach and impact to keep your customers happy.

Exploring new growth through microcommerce opportunities can help you unleash new revenue streams by tapping into under-utilized products and services.

Make your resolutions now and plan on sticking with them to reap greater long-term benefits for your business.

Happy New Year folks,

Between the year’s two primary semesters (Fall session and Winter session) comes what I like to refer to as “the off-season.” Those two and a half weeks between Fall final exams and the start of Winter classes. And as is the case in many sports where signings and trades take place during the off-season, FLI (FieldLevel Innovations) also found itself in the midst of a furry of signings. Our team successfully completed its first MBO (management buy-out) just before the New Year by purchasing 50% of our over-sized beanbag company, Woosaa, from the original investor. And so my friends, comes the story of negotiating with REAL money.

I personally love to barter in a marketplace, and I can’t say that I’ve been immune to the Texas Hold ‘Em virus that’s been floating around - but for all those who have yet to experience it, negotiating business is essentially these same situations but with much higher stakes!

First there is the meeting where everyone speaks in generalities and is agreeable (hopefully). This is usually nothing more than an acknowledgement that a negotiation is likely to occur. Then comes the discovery meeting(s) and rest assured that here is where listening gets critical. You are not only trying to get to the root of what the other side is trying to say, but you are also trying to listen so well, that you can propose solutions they never even thought of.

My classes call this ‘Finding out Interests over Positions’ because essentially everyone declares what they will and won’t do, but the truth is that people are usually just protecting their interests and cannot foresee another position that will satisfy them. I can’t dive too far into specifics but it’s safe to say that this type of recognition paid dividends for FLI.

Once you’re all on the same page with what really matters, it’s time to look within and see where you can make headway. Remember this though… you can’t have everything in a negotiation, even if it’s given to you! Why? Because the other side will eventually resent you (when they clue in) and your reputation is everything. Can anyone name a Yankees/Red Sox trade of note that occurred AFTER Babe Ruth cursed Boston? Exactly.

So then where do you draw the line? When do you win?

When making sacrifices you aren’t just being a Good Samaritan (insert the exhaling of capitalists everywhere). You are still using your business savvy to decide which sacrifices give you the best return on your credibility with the other side and causes the least damage to your situation. At this point I will preach one more theoretical approach that never fails - the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).

In FLI’s situation, we had to really ask ourselves what we were buying. We knew we wanted to own Woosaa Ltd. entirely but it was important for us to re-visit why. Did we believe that strongly in the brand, the work to date, the vision? At how much did we valuate these things (as well as future cash flows)? We looked at our BATNA and knew that we could conceivably choose to “not buy.” The lesson here was that there are always other options, even some that you may have written off at the start.

In hindsight I feel good about the whole process. Minimal feelings were hurt, a business relationship was salvaged and remains in tact for future projects, and of course, we bought the company. It may not mean much now, but it’s a strategic step to executing our 3 year vision - and that for us was the overriding factor.

Now let’s have a look at what the river will bring.

One of the traits of a successful business owner is the ability to manage their time. If you are going to be an effective time manager you have to learn to stay away from allocating time solely on the basis of those who demand it. Instead, you have to allocate that precious resource on the basis of those who actually deserve it.

This is not a negative approach. It merely means that you have constraints on the amount of time you have to spend and so, one of the most powerful words in your time management vocabulary is the word, "no." Almost everyone you encounter will think they have a better idea about how you should be spending your time. If there is a void in your time management life, someone, or many for that matter, will jump in to fill that spot. The problem is that they do not have the full understanding of where you are taking your life and if you keep saying "yes," they will continue to take up your time, possibly keeping you from accomplishing what you really want to do.

"No" is sometimes difficult to say because we think that we need to say "yes" most of the time. However, there are many times when that’s the wrong answer and you have to define that line. Saying “no” can let you allocate your time to more valuable uses.

However, saying “no” can have some negative impacts. Here’s some ways to use the “no” word without turning people off. Use the ones that work for you.

Here they are:

"I'm sorry. That's not a priority for me right now."

"I can't help you on this now, but I can get to it next week. Is that all right?"

"I have made a lot of commitments to others, so it would be unfair to them and you if I took on anything more at this point."

"I have a lot on my plate now so I don't know when I can get to it. However let me put you in touch with someone who can help you now."

"I don't know how soon I can help you on this, but I will get back to you as soon as I am free to help you."

"Sure I can help you with your request as long as we both agree and understand that the item I agreed to do for you yesterday is going to have to wait."

"I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I sure can do that for you. The bad news is I'm so overloaded that I won’t get to it for at least two weeks."

"Before I do this for you, let me show you a few things so that you might be able to do it yourself."

"No."

"I would like to help you out on this but you must understand I don't have the resources available to do the right job for you."

"Now that's the type of thing I would love to help you on if only I had the time."

"Just like you, I get overloaded sometimes and have to tell some very special people, "no". This is one of those times."

You’ll be surprised at how most people will take such a response from you. Try the ones that you feel comfortable with and by the way don’t forget to smile when you’re using them.

During my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, myself and five other Management students from a variety of specialists in the B.B.A. program, joined together to create value for ourselves by pursuing an initiative that would pragmatically test the theory we had learned in the classroom over our three previous years.

The venture that followed, FieldLevel Innovations Inc. (FLI), was comprised of a student who had returned to school after sometime spent with an Asset Management firm. Together, he and I made up the unofficial decision-making body of our organization. We were later joined by an international student who translated his excellent research skills into the analysis we came to rely on. Also on board was a hard working student from small-town Ontario who, although the least entrepreneurial of the group, showed an unwavering commitment to the company. A female marketing specialist turned out to be the addition that would keep us all in line. Finally, the group was rounded out by a student who was exceptionally talented in the world of finance, and matured beyond his young age in a short amount of time.

As one of the two initial Managing Partners for the company, I befell the responsibility of leading our organization in a consulting engagement for a mid-market retail operation that was cash-strapped, riddled with embezzlement, and mired in a vicious cycle of underpaid employees leading to increasingly higher turnover. After a series of negotiations with the Owner of the establishment, our company earned the contract and began the on-site hours.

I am a firm believer in small wins and milestones. Our first day on-site at the operation was not as well-received as when we had visited a couple weeks prior to say our hello’s and state our purpose. Now that we were officially “in the door”, the employees did not seem phased by our presence and remained jaded by the conditions under which they were working.

As a first attempt at a small win, I delivered an initial presentation to the nine employees, introducing our team and openly acknowledging the issues and challenges that would require everyone’s patience and unity if they were to be overcome. Because the employees’ sentiments about the Owner were not favourable, I made sure to commend him publicly for his recognition of a problem and willingness to accept suggestions on how to correct it. I added legitimacy to our lack of experience by citing that we were working in collaboration with a University of Toronto Professor and professional consultant, who would also be on-site. The most important piece of the presentation however, was that we (our company) were not going to change the direction of the ship but rather they (the client) were going to do so, with our team as their support. It was important for them to know that all their suggestions from years past, were now going to be met with an open mind and an active pen.

Over the course of the engagement, I became our company’s unofficial spokesperson. I liaised between the consultant and the FLI team, as well as did the buffering between the client’s Owner and his employees. Essentially, I became a medium by which all parties communicated. A different voice has the power to deliver the same message, but will generally be better received. We built a reputation of abiding by our word through a series of visible changes that employees took notice of.

The experience in its entirety required elements of humility and vocal leadership as different situations emerged. What was originally a group of employees who punched a clock 9 to 5, saw our team arriving at 8am and not leaving until the early hours of the next morning, all the while on-site alongside them. Although we didn’t preach this type of commitment, the employees began to fall into two classes; one of which attempted to parallel our work ethic.

With regards to the remaining class, among them was a 62 year old Scottish fellow who did see the potential for the company and, although disgruntled over his treatment, wanted to know that we were committed to staying the course if he agreed to give assistance where he could. I re-assured him of our ability to stimulate change and we subsequently replaced three of the four employees, the Scottish fellow not included. With respect to his expertise, I actively involved the gentleman in the training of new hires. This did a great deal to keep him intrinsically motivated and set the standard for the culture we wanted everyone to share.

During this experience, a great deal was learned about the situational aspects of leadership. Although I had been taught by a previous course that leadership can be embodied in four main principles, I came to realize that leadership is in fact a series of small actions. It could be how you focus your eyes when someone older and more experienced is talking to you. It could be getting down on a shop floor because you need to see first hand what its like to fasten a widget. Sometimes it can even be about giving people the right issues to consider as oppose to passing down judgments, so that they know they can arrive at a solution by themselves.

FieldLevel Innovations is still engaged with the client in reference, and I continue to learn the leadership responsibilities that are inherent in the role.

Everyone has an idea, or at least the ability to generate an idea.

You can’t help but walk around for a day and hear the genius of people as they candidly throw ideas that could have a tremendous impact on the world around them.

We log these ideas in our memories and if we ever give them a second thought, we classify them as having potential.

The idea has potential.

This is the most frequently used incomplete sentence you will ever hear.

As a student, I have been told several times, by teachers, relatives, friends, colleagues - that I have potential. It sounded complimentary at first until the novelty wore off. And then I thought…

My ideas have potential.

Potential for what? We never do finish that sentence. Probably because potential could just as easily mean the potential to fail as it could the potential to succeed.

For those of you who are exploring the potential of your ideas, recall that success is the ability to move from each failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill.

So whether you are propelled by discovering the potential of your idea or better still, your own personal potential, understand that to do either requires you to embrace your failures and shortcomings in order to recognize your strengths and successes.

Here is your box. Notice the dimensions. Please place your thoughts within the box. This is the universe in which you will operate. The failure rate grows with each deviation from the center. The letters after your name will dictate how closely you can approach the edges. You are not the first person to inquire about what lies beyond the borders. Others before you have tried and failed. Stick to what you know and you will find security in our rewards. If you decide to tread outside this box we do not assume liability for your actions. As it stands, you are being groomed. In twenty years people will associate your name with expertise, and recognition for your achievements will follow. You are walking the straight and narrow path to success. If at any time you will feel this box is not for you, please bring this to our attention. ‘Taking risks’ can be found in the third paragraph of our mission statement. Note that these risks must first be approved by management. We believe you have the ability to keep us on par with our objectives and timelines. Your manager is currently out of the country. Your first order of business will be to meet with our partners on her behalf. Best of luck and remember… this firm needs disciples, not leaders.

See the need?