Pricing your business

In recent mandates with several different clients, we have gone through the exercise of valuing their business.

A few important principles were confirmed:

1. The value to the owner is unique to that individual. Ego may artificially inflate the price, but more importantly the role and relationships established by the owner may change drastically with his/her departure and thereby affect the price.
2. Value is always determined by an evaluation of the future income relative to the uncertainty or risks associated with obtaining the expected returns. Regardless of the valuation method, (P/E multiple, payback period, or discounted cash flows) the forecast future income stream has to be solid and the known risks have to be reduced to get the best possible valuation.
3. Current owners tolerate more risks, uncertainty and "fuzzy" circumstances than new owners/investors. You may be OK with the fact that you are dependent on one key supplier because he is an old high school buddy; or that you have no signed lease but the landlord is your uncle; or that your best sales rep is also your only son and he wants to be president. Prospective buyers will be much less enthusiastic unless those issues are all resolved to their satisfaction in advance of any offer to purchase or invest.
4. Different buyers will accept different prices, terms and conditions. The prospects usually range from the passive investor looking for a reasonable return for reasonable risk; to the active investor who sees the potential to do better than your forecast under his own management; to the strategic investor who sees even greater opportunity in buying a competitor, supplier or customer and merging it with his existing business to increase revenues, eliminate unnecessary overheads, and substantially increase profits. The selling price will increase accordingly.

For more on the subject visit: http://www.directtech.ca/pricing_a_business.htm

Teaching entrepreneurship

So the course is over and a dozen enthusiastic young entrepreneurs passed with excellent marks. Will they all succeed as entrepreneurs? Sorry, but taking a course is not enough.

In the very first class we agreed that anyone can be an entrepreneur if they are passionate determined, persistent and patient. So why not? It sounds like the same cliches we hear from successful celebrities - "believe in your dream, never give up". But we neglect to be honest and admit that there is always one more requirement for success - talent!

It's like the rookie golfer who just couldn't improve and after every bad shot the pro kept explaining that his problem was LOFT. So the the rookie tried another club and still couldn't hit it straight. The pro then explained "I didn't say your problem was loft, I said it was L-O-F-T: Lack Of F***ing Talent!"

Sometimes its best to discourage budding entrepreneurs who have a dream but need to recognize they are only dreaming. First find something they can be good at.

An impressive CEO

At a recent McGill alumni breakfast, the guest was Darren Entwhistle, President and CEO of Telus, Canada's newest national telecommunications provider.

A very articulate and focused leader, Entwhistle clearly communicates where he wants to go and his process for getting there. Still "frustrated and bitter" about the federal government's inability to get out of the way for his bid to acquire Bell Canada, he thinks we are handicapping Canadian telecom's from growing into world class competitors. A familiar refrain also from the banking sector and other industries frustrated by regional and provincial barriers.

Entwhistle also described the challenges of ignoring the financial critics and market watchers to stay focused on the internally sound corporate strategy. Short term share prices and industry fads will sway those outside opinions, but a well developed sound strategy will succeed over the long term.

An impressive CEO, Entwhistle obviously inspires confidence in his leadership for the management team, employees and shareholders of Telus. (And he's another McGill MBA - Class of '88.)

The Platinum Rule

Again I learned something new at the McGill MiniBiz Seminar this week. The topic was managing diversity, especially the generational gap between those born before WWII, the Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y.

For both managers of those diverse groups and for members of each generation the recommendation was to remember the Platinum Rule.

OK, we all know the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Apparently a pretty universal concept that has worked for many generations. Essentially, treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Seems good to me.

But consider the more effective Platinum Rule, especially when there are large cultural or generational differences to consider: "Treat other people the way they would like to be treated." Powerful concept.

Henry Mintzberg is worth listening to

I had the pleasure yesterday of hearing a presentation by Henry Mintzberg, McGill professor and management guru. One attendee described him as the "Tiger Woods of management science".

I know him as the Strategy professor during my McGill MBA program from 35 years ago. (Yikes, neither of us seem to have aged that much! OK, maybe less hair.)

He is a widely respected academic and the acclaimed author of "The Nature of Managerial Work ", "The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning", "Managers not MBAs" and many other books and articles that argue against the conventional wisdom and provoke thoughtful reflection on management and business. He is also the co-founder of the International Masters Program in Practicing Management (IMPM), a unique approach to learning that is designed to flow from the experience of the participants.

His presentation yesterday was originally advertised to be on the dilemma of corporate compensation, but that turned out be only part of his critique of the modern CEO focus on shareholder value that is leading to the great depression of 2008.

Some of his points to consider:

• Productivity is a euphemism for cutting costs, mostly by firing employees, while maintaining short-term revenues.
• The theoretical corporate objective of maximizing long-term shareholder value has been hijacked to mean pushing short-term earnings to inflate current market share prices.
• How can employees be motivated to work for shareholders they have never met? Many of whom have no interest in the company except for the short-term ability to make a profit on their investment - they are day traders or hedge funds.
• Shareholder value is not a worthy objective of the corporate institution as it specifically ignores (or exploits) other stakeholders, especially employees.
• Mercenary corporate leadership is stealing from shareholders with absurd compensation and severance packages that are not tied to performance. The "robber barons are back!"
• The old corporate silos have been replaced by horizontal slabs of concrete separating executives from their employees and the real operating issues.
• "Human resources" is a term that dehumanizes human beings. It makes it easier to treat people like other "resources" to buy, sell, use and dispose of them. It's like describing airline passengers as "self-loading cargo"!
• Corporations need to remember that customers are people too. They are not just another asset to be exploited.

Professor Mintzberg also suggested some remedies to avoid the great depression of 2008:

• Stop being misled by the apparent productivity gains and profitability of large American corporations.
• Get the mercenaries out of the executive suite and add employee voices in the boardroom.
• Stop running businesses to satisfy financial analysts or investors with no interest in anything except short-term results.
• Install real corporate leadership that is concerned, engaged, and modest. (Interestingly close to Jim Collins description of Level 5 Leadership from "Good to Great".)
• Ignore the obsession with measurable factors and reconsider the immeasurable - values, benefits and impacts of economic activity.
• In the larger context, get back to a better balance of the three sectors in society - public, private and social.

His full commentary is available at How Productivity Killed American Enterprise.

Lots to think about and to influence if we can.

Not worth reading

Seymour Schulich's recent book "Get Smarter" is a disappointment.

In spite of the reviews and promotional news releases that it's full of brilliant insights, it is instead full of clichés and old anecdotes borrowed from Aesop's Fables or father's favourite tales. Not the wisdom and lessons of life and business and that you would expect from a prominent Canadian billionaire.

More a confirmation of the power of money to buy respect and admiration that Mr. Schulich has already demonstrated by his conspicuous donations to Canadian universities. I don't know him, but I have an impression that Mr. Schulich is most impressed with himself and acted on the urge to say "I'm very rich so I must be pretty smart and people should listen to my advice." He offers his opinions on China, the Middle East, and his favourite movies (why is that relevant?) A good friend or editor should have told him not to embarrass himself. He doesn't need the money or the attention from writing a book.

He does have old-fashioned views and strong opinions on some subjects that are both surprising and interesting and the Appendix describing his lucky strike in Nevada is more revealing of how to become a billionaire. Still not enough to justify the price or the time to read the whole book.

A Peter C. Newman story of his life and times would have been more interesting, but probably not as flattering for Mr. Schulich.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur

That was the advice of David Lank, Director of the Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies at McGill, in a seminar last evening. I agree that anyone can be, but not everyone should be, and not everyone wants to be.

As David suggested, why would anyone want to be an entrepreneur when they know that:

1. You will not really work for yourself, but instead for all the people that depend on you.
2. The world really doesn't care about you or your business.
3. Most new businessses fail.

The first test of a real entrepreneur, of course, is that he/she proceeds with enthusiasm in spite of all that knowledge. In David's opinion, based on providing start-up capital to more than 140 companies during his career in venture capital, the most important element in deciding to invest in an entrepreneur is the passion they demonstrate in support of their plan.

A formal business plan is always required, but that is less important than the passion factor. The most important element required for favourable consideration of the business plan is the understanding of reality communicated by the entrepreneur.

Good perspectives to keep in mind.

Learning entrepreneurship

My next teaching challenge is to present the subject of Entrepreneurship in the Continuing Education program at Concordia University.

Can you really teach entrepreneurship? What if you have to be born that way? What about all those stories about "delivering papers when I was nine years old"...? I didn't, so am I disqualified?

My own theory is that an entrepreneur is simply a creator of businesses to meet an opportunity. Anybody can do it anytime; if they have the marketable skills, relevant knowledge, and determination to succeed.

So what can I teach? Having reviewed a number of textbooks on the subject, I have concluded that the expectation of those signing up for the course is to learn some basic business processes and principles that will help them to evaluate their choices and make the decisions necessary to develop an idea or opportunity into a valid business model and business plan, finance it, start it and make it grow.

Sounds simple.

Leadership

I'm currently reading Stephen Covey's latest - "The 8th Habit"; following of course his best selling "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".

On the subject of management and leadership he summarizes the themes and concepts of many other authors. (Give him credit for some humility.) What sticks with me are the stated principles of: 1. Set the direction, 2. set an example, 3. define the values, 4. provide the systems; then let people manage themselves.

My own summary of management has always been simply to communicate the objectives and then remove the obstacles to achieving them. The guiding principles may be simple, it doesn't mean they are easy to follow.

Financial management

I am just completing the teaching of two summer courses in Financial Management at Concordia University. It's time for their final exams so I'm now thinking about what are the most important lessons to learn for future business managers and entrepreneurs. Or alternatively, what do most entrepreneurs neglect in the management of their businesses?

Most of us focus regularly on the income statement - revenues, gross margins, expenses and the resulting profits. But we often neglect the management of our balance sheet - inventory, receivables, return on assets, and the short and long-term sources of funds. These issues can all have significant impact on profitability and the long-term value of the enterprise.

So I will try to emphasize the importance of regularly reviewing performance of assets and liabilities in addition to the more obvious and intuitive issues of sales and income. How does balance sheet performance compare to prior years? the plan? or the industry averages?

Can we improve turnover on inventory and receivables without losing sales or diminishing service levels. Can we extend payables and get additional short-term financing without hurting our credit ratings or adding to our costs? Are we making good use of long-term debt to add financial leverage and improve the return on our equity investment?

All important issues for effective financial management.

Mysteries of human behaviour

I've just returned from an interesting trip to Sept Isles and tour of the Quebec North Shore. Sept Isles is on a large circular bay protected by seven islands (surprisingly) and is a young, prosperous industrial town. Quite unremarkable as a tourist destination.

But it has one characteristic that seems to be entirely unique to the population of Sept Isles. The town has two very popular Tim Horton's coffee shops and strangers cannot help but notice that absolutely everyone takes their coffee in the familiar "roll-up-the rim" paper cup with a plastic straw! They attempt logical explanations that it keeps the coffee from spilling out the flip top opening while driving, but there is really no explanation for it becoming unique to Sept Isles.

It seems to me a useful reminder that human behaviour cannot always be explained, predicted, understood or managed. Just accept it and work with it. Like the counter staff at Tim Horton's in Sept Isles - just punch a hole in the top and give them a straw.

The relentless pursuit of knowledge

It's not trivial. One thought or idea leads to another.

I mentioned Dale Carnegie's original successful book written in 1936 and wondered if he was related to the famous American industrialist named Carnegie. Maybe he was just a lazy rich kid with the time to philosophize and write about "winning friends and influencing people". How to find out? I thought of Wikipedia, partly inspired by a recent article on Wikinomics in Canadian Business by Don Tapscott, Canadian philospher,writer and commentator on technology trends.

So I searched Google (of course) to find the Wikipedia entry and learned the following, plus a bonus marketing tip!:

Born in 1888 in Maryville, Missouri, Carnegie was a poor farmer's boy, the second son of James William Carnagey and Amanda Elizabeth Harbison.[1] In his teens, though still having to get up at 4 a.m. every day to milk his parents' cows, he managed to get educated at the State Teacher's College in Warrensburg. His first job after college was selling correspondence courses to ranchers; then he moved on to selling bacon, soap and lard for Armour & Company. He was successful to the point of making his sales territory, southern Omaha, the national leader for the firm.[citation needed]
Perhaps one of Carnegie’s most successful marketing moves was to change the spelling of his last name from “Carnegey” to Carnegie, at a time when Andrew Carnegie was a widely revered and recognized name.

More fascinating facts, or useless trivia. You decide.

Summertime

Two long summer weekends and two short weeks every year at the end of June. (Unique to Québec?) Followed by the so-called "construction holiday" where almost everyone leaves for the last two weeks of July. Hard to be productive with clients or any other business partners during this period.

Should be a good time for blogging, but other summer attractions have more appeal. All of which is to admit I don't have much new to say.

Some more progress on summer reading and my reviews for your consideration:

• Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky. A classic on my "must read" list. Written in the Russia of the 186o's and considered the original psychological murder mystery. Intriguing and very different from the modern murder mystery as it is told primarily from the point of view of the murderer.
• How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. One of the originals (consider also Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill.) written in the 1930's and still worth a read. Not so serious or so slick as the current crop of self-help books that are so effectively mass marketed. Adds some perspective to the basic skills required to be effective in working with other people.

I've also agreed to teach two summer courses in Financial Management at Concordia so I'm reviewing the current textbook, "Principles of Corporate Finance" by Gitman and Hennessey. The principles haven't changed in the thirty years since my MBA and the first time I taught the course, but the text is well done and covers the elementary to the advanced topics.

Happy summer reading on your own list.

Back to Blogging after golf

Too much time has passed since my last posting. Apologies to any avid subscribers, but I expect my absence was hardly noticed. My feeble excuse was being away for a dynamite golf and family visit in beautiful BC.

It was easy to be distracted by the spectacular scenery of BC at it's best in May/June. Lush green hillsides rising to snow-capped mountains reflected in the clear blue lakes. And we experienced a perfect father and son day at Whistler with a morning of spring skiing on Blackcomb and an afternoon of golf at Nicklaus North with a black bear on the 7th tee and waterskiers around the 17th green. Not to mention the outstanding sushi feast at Whistler Village.

So back to business after the reminder of how it's like golf. As my father would say about baseball "It's not good enough to swing and hope". You have to study, practice, and do it a lot to succeed. Watching it on TV or reading about it may help a little, not a lot. Better equipment is not the easy answer. Keeping score is the only way to really know how you're doing. And I'm sure there are other ways business is like golf. Material for a future Blog. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile enjoy the summer weekends, golf or no golf.

Essence of Customer Service

A quick comment after another demonstration of what distinguishes good customer service.

I've always said the essence of good customer service is simple; not easy, but also not complicated. And for it to be reflected consistently on every customer contact is the real challenge for management. Instead of trying to explain it, just think of leaving every customer with a positive impression of the company, every time.

TD Waterhouse does that for me. As a discount broker that I use online regularly, I occassionally need to talk to them or meet someone in their office. Always prompt, personal, polite and efficient. The real test is when a problem arises. A transfer request that didn't happen as promised caused me to call today. Even though I started with a complaint, it was quickly corrected and I was again a satisfied customer. Congratulations to TD Waterhouse for continuing to impress me with excellent customer service. I'm a tough critic, but they are the best among all the large companies I know.

Essence of entrepreneurship

I had lunch yesterday with a client and friend who represents for me the essence of entrepreneurship. (He is too modest and discrete for me to mention his name here.)

In my opinion, the essence is to combine the strength of a marketable expertise with the ability to think and act strategically. In his case, he has a very high level of knowledge and experience in the design, build and maintenance of computer data centres. He initally worked for another a specialist in that field then left to start his own business. Over time he successfully positioned his company as the recommended service centre for the industry's leading manufacturer; grew to a size that exceeded his own management abilities; introduced a new partner and executive management team; accepted a new role in the company that leveraged his unique expertise and skills in developing customer relationships; and managed to re-position the company as a major project contractor to design and build large computer room installations from its origins selling and servicing basic hardware.

Many entrepreneurs I work with are equally competent and dedicated to their area of technical expertise but much less capable of managing their business strategically. Others may have the education and experience to manage and think strategically but have little to offer in unique expertise.

Success flows more easily for those that have both.

Maintenance time

After a long weekend there is extra urgency to get a week's work accomplished in the remaining four days. And this weekend I'm away for 2 weeks to enjoy Beautiful BC with friends and family so even more pressure .

It's a good time to remember the importance of maintaining the foundation - physical, financial, friends and family. Too much focus on business and career goals can easily leave no time for those other important elements of a successful life.

Weekends and holidays should be protected from work intrusions to allow quality time to be spent on those other priorities. They all add to the solid foundation that will support you through the inevitable challenges up and down the business cycle. Physical and mental strength, financial security, and the refuge and counsel of friends and family will help you weather the storms of economic adversity. If neglected, they will not be there to respond in times of need.

So take the time for maintenance. Sometimes, the work can wait.

Happy Birthday to me

If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot.

If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm) then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Solutions website or the Blog. If you click on the Google ad links I might even make nickel while I'm golfing.

Now that's what I love about the Internet!

Happy Birthday to me

If you're here on Friday morning May 18th, I've gone golfing. Happy Birthday to me in case you forgot.

If you found this Blog through my e-newsletter on "E-Business opportunities with Web 2.0" (see www.directtech.ca/ebusiness_2007.htm), then you'll appreciate the beauty of online applications like Campaigner (www.campaigner.com) which sent the newsletter while I was golfing and directed you to the DirectTech Solutions website or the Blog. If you click on the Google ad links I might even make a nickel while I'm golfing.

Now that's what I love about the Internet!

Networking or not

I started a group a few years ago that resisted the standard approach to networking. This morning was a happy confirmation that we have a good thing going.

We are all refugees (or alumni, to put a more positive spin on it) of other networking groups. We wanted to avoid any more of the forced and superficial generating of leads and referrals for people whom we didn't really know that well. We were seeking areas of common interest and levels of business experience to share ideas and information. It is best described as a peer advisory group. We do have a mutual interest in identifying and developing business opportunities and occasionally feel guilty about not generating more referrals for each other.

This morning after a long discussion on a variety of fascinating subjects that strayed far from our standard agenda, I apologized for neglecting to keep them focused on our networking agenda. "Hell no" they said, "these exchanges are why we come here and avoid other networking groups!"

I agree. The networking results are actually better than elsewhere and there is considerable value in sharing ideas and information among like-minded professionals. I recommend it to you. The breakfast doesn't even matter.

Neglecting e-business

In the early days of e-business consulting most of us doing the e-missionary circuit were preaching the message of "Catch the wave or be drowned by it". Every business was being told to get on the Internet and get rich quick or stand back while the "new economy" took over their industry. Hype and hysteria were used to persuade entrepreneurs and investors to put large amounts of money into their e-business initiatives. They were motivated by either fear or greed.

Then the "old economy" rules hit the dot.com ventures and the bubble burst. Many investments ended badly. Some could be written off as an expensive learning experience. The hype and hysteria died and many businesses decided they could go back to business as usual. They were wrong.

The Internet revolution continues, albeit more quietly. The hype now focuses on Web 2.0 with highly interactive web sites and user generated content. Huge values are being placed on high traffic sites as they are acquired by Google, Microsoft, or the media moguls.

But businesses that are leveraging the Internet to their advantage are those that simply make the best use of Web marketing to attract business and online services to reduce costs and to build strong loyal customer relationships. Those are the e-business opportunities not to be neglected.

Much has changed on the Internet, but neglecting e-business is not an option. Remember fear and greed still apply.

Happy Mother's Day

Mothers and business seems to be my current theme. Perhaps it's the subliminal (or blatant) advertising for Mother's Day this weekend.

My Uncle Ralph persona is partly inspired by my father and his well-recognized character and manner of dispensing wise advice. But my mother also had a strong influence on my personality and management style (other than the genetic connection), but it was more subtle and less frequently stated than demonstrated. Quiet, hard working, good humoured, and responsible are the characteristics that immediately come to mind. Things we all learned from her example, simply by being around her. Of course, she was also good at reminding us when we forgot those important principles or our behaviour was not up to her standards. And it's still a pleasure to make her proud.

That's why I recommend you use the test "What would Mom think?" before your actions and decisions in business too.

Thanks Mom. And Happy Mother's Day.

I'm your boss not your mother

An earlier post suggested that we might have better decision making if managers asked themselves what their mother would think of their actions. But what about those employees that expect you to act like their mother?

What is the right level of caring and compassion before it becomes more personal than a working relationship should be? Is there a reasonable limit? Is it appropriate to get involved with issues that are strictly personal? Do employees become part of your extended family with all the additional obligations that implies?

Some recent exposure to business owners dealing with their employees' personal issues has caused me to be more cautious about getting involved. Once they start lending a sympathic ear, then a shoulder to cry on, it soon becomes more time consuming on and off the job and creates a relationship that is difficult to steer back to business only. It also becomes a distraction for other employees and creates new concerns about favouritism.

My guideline for these situations would be to decide whether you would do what's being requested for every employee in the same situation. Personal advice? Time off? Cash advances? If not, then say no to the first request. Don't start a precedent that you're not prepared to write into the policy manual.

And don't be afraid to clarify the relationship, "I'm your boss, not your mother".

Does your mother know?

As my mother once said "Don't do anything you wouldn't do if I was there."

Now that was a great way to keep me on the straight and narrow while I was looking for trouble as a teenager.

I've often thought of repeating the question as I encounter bad drivers flying by on the highway. "Does your mother know you drive like an idiot?"

Mothers are also an important influence to guide our ethical conduct in business. That was apparently understand by the jeweller in Cranbrook BC who had a conspicuous sign posted by the cash stating "We give instant credit to all our customers ... if they are over 90 and accompanied by their mother." Good credit guideline!

Most entrepreneurs and executives probably don't often think of their mothers on the job, unless she's the boss like Ma Boyle (pictured) at Columbia Sportswear. Maybe they should. We would probably have fewer issues of corporate misconduct if their mothers knew what was going on.

Perhaps instead of all those current management courses on ethics and corporate responsibility we only need to remind decision makers to ask themselves "Would my mother be proud of me, if she knew what I was doing?"

Sometimes mother knows best.

I have a duck

Why do I keep the duck? It's not a live duck, it's a painted plaster duck, so no care and feeding required. But it's old and faded from years in the garden through snow and rain then beside the bathtub or on a bookshelf. It's not attractive but it's a frequent reminder to be humble in my business decisions.

The duck was a Christmas gift exchange from a computer technician who worked for me in my first entrepreneurial venture, TTX Computer Products. He was also the first employee I had to fire. Not because of the duck.

It was a classic business slowdown in the early '90's and forced me to look at downsizing my staff. "Laid off due to economic circumstances" may sound better to the individual and look better on his resumé, but it was still a difficult and painful decision. Especially as I had made the committment to never fire anyone in my own company after having lived through the slow decline and never-ending terminations at AES Data right up to my own "departure" a few years earlier.

But I came to realize that the best way to protect the company and the other jobs was to accept the inevitable and reduce costs by lowering the most significant variable expense - staff levels. As a senior executive from AES assured me, "the only way to avoid ever firing anybody is to make perfect hiring decisions, and nobody is that smart".

And he was right. It was also not the last time for me to have people fired, laid off, or terminated and it never gets easier.

I wonder if those CEOs deciding to cut back by 10,000 or 30,000 people take it as personally. Do they actually sit face-to-face with any of those individuals and worry with them about their futures?

It has to be one of the toughest challenges for any entrepreneur or executive. And still a worthy objective to try and avoid any firings. So hire as "perfectly" as you can, then manage well enough to avoid those "economic circumstances" that lead to downsizing.

Who needs a consultant?

If importing a celebrity CEO is seldom a good idea, why would you want to use that hired gun called management consultant? He (or she) may know even less about your business and may have never even been a manager or business owner. How can they contribute anything?

Since I spend a lot of my time selling that service and playing that role I had better have a good answer to that question. Some of my thoughts on the subject are already documented in the article ""Consultants: How to choose, use and not abuse them." See: Ezine articles.

The consultant cannot know your business, your environment or your issues better than you. But he (or she) can add the value of their own knowledge, experience and skills to better analyse the problems or opportunities and develop solutions and action plans with you. The consultant should assist with brainstorming, open up new possibilities to consider, suggest some different strategies, tactics and techniques to get where you want to go. They should be practical and fit your business needs, budget, timetable, priorities, capabilities and corporate culture.

A good consultant should challenge and stimulate you to do better. You are not hiring a friend to remind you how smart you are or to tell you that you already have the right solution.

More than that? You will have to pay me. I am a consultant after all.

Too much multitasking?

It may seem like we are getting more done by multitasking but maybe we would be more productive and deliver better results by focusing on one thing at a time.

I'm guilty of needing to keep all my faculties engaged by doing at least two things at once. Reading the paper, eating breakfast, listening to the radio would be typical. On Sunday night I'm switching between doing my blog, watching the hockey game and talking to my son in Vancouver. Probably not focusing adequately on any one of them but feeling productive by doing several things at once.

Also working on two interesting books at the same time. Jim Collins "Good to Great" and Henry Mintzberg's "Manager's, Not MBA's". Both have quite controversial and and unconventional points of view. Collins' research on companies that have gone from poor to exceptional performance concludes that none of them brought in celebrity CEOs that made big breakthrough strategic moves. Mintzberg makes a strong case against the value of an MBA for future managers and the damage done by the emphasis on analysis and bold strategic decisions by MBA trained executives. They would both suggest the recent history of HP under Carly Fiorina proves their point. She apparently disagrees.

Can we learn anything good from the celebrity CEOs that get so much attention as visionary leaders with exceptional entrepreneurial skills? I would say yes we can extract some useful ideas from their business strategies and tactics, but their are two important things to remember. First, their unique personalities and skill sets have a lot to do with their success (and their notoriety) and cannot be replicated. Second, their industry and company knowledge and experience may not translate into success in another company. That lesson has been very expensive to learn for many Boards of Directors and Shareholders. Think HP or Home Depot.

That's all for tonight. My battery is dying and Calgary-Detroit are in overtime!

Spring in Montreal

Maybe not that unusual for Canadians, but we've gone from four inches of wet snow on Monday morning to warm and sunny today with a forecast of 23C on the weekend. Winter to summer in less than a week? Welcome to Montreal in 2007.

No this is not another rant about global warming. Enough is being said, blogged or otherwise, about that subject without my personal contribution. This is more about recognizing what is unique and worth appreciating about our hometown.

Just back from a trip to Spain where the historic sites go back almost 3000 years to 800BC when the Phonecians first built sophisticated structures at Cadiz, followed by the Romans then the Moors and the Spanish Catholics, all on the same site. Makes our upcoming 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City seem fairly recent. But as a native of south-eastern BC where a 40 year old log cabin has historical significance it is still fascinating to me. And they're still here. I had lunch yesterday with a M. Leduc who is a 13th generation Quebecer.

And I thought I was a real Canadian as a third generation native. But I do feel lucky to be able to enjoy the special charms and features of two home towns - Kimberley, BC and Montreal, Quebec.

Blogging discipline

Now that I've said I'm committed to blogging for the greater good, more than just the personal satisfaction, I'm going to have to keep it up.

Flurry of topics to consider - more business advice from Uncle Ralph, comments on the Virginia Tech massacre, business issues discussed at lunch, or the best seller I finally bought "Good to Great" by Jim Collins?

Let's settle on the latter - best business books that must be read if you're serious about being a better manager or running a more successful business.

On my list:

1. Built to Last, also by Jim Collins
2. In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Tom Waterman(?) the original business best seller that is claimed to have started an industry.
3. Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management by Blaine McCormick and the Autobiography of Ben Franklin by Ben himself (obviously).
4. Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay
5. The Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
7. First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

And on your recommended reading list?

Who is Uncle Ralph?

This is Uncle Ralph checking in.

Who am I? I'm a creation of Del Chatterson. He's too humble to offer all this advice and insight himself so he has created this pseudonym. Remember Mark Twain? And how about Samuel Clemens, why was he hiding behind a pseudonym?

I am a composite character of all the best managers that Del has ever met or learned from. He attributes to me all the best advice he has ever received from colleagues, associates, employees, customers, competitors, teachers, writers and his parents. I have learned more lessons from experience than he or any other one person will ever learn for themselves. Or as his sister puts it, "learn from the mistakes of others, you can't live long enough to make them all yourself."

So I will offer wise words of advice and counsel to business owners, managers, entrepreneurs and executives without any inhibitions, humility or modesty. I will moderate the e2eforum and facilitate discussion between business peers and expert advisors. My intent is to to help improve people's business performance and their personal lives. I am optimistically ambitious about what we can accomplish together.

Until the next time ....

Trying harder

OK, after more browsing of other people's blogs I have been suitably inspired/motivated to try harder.

You can give the credit (blame) to the bloggers listed in my sidebar - Mitch Joel, Rick Spence and finally Jim Estill. You may not know them but they're worth a visit; maybe they'll inspire you too. Mitch is a marketing guru in Montreal, Rick is a business writer on entrepreneurship, and Jim is a very successful entrepreneur in the Canadian computer industry.

It seemed to me that blogging was very narcissistic - a self absorbed, lonely, anti-social mission to make daily diary entries and expose them to the world. Who wants to browse your bad writing about who you are, what you're doing and what you think? Who cares?

But now I can appreciate that it is more of an expression of the personal desire to share ideas and information and to expand our personal networks through the Web. It is also a good discipline to force ideas into writing and then expose them to interested readers for critique and discussion.

So this blog is now the introduction to Uncle Ralph and the e2eforum's mission to inform, educate, advise and inspire other business executives and entepreneurs.

Stay tuned.

Slow progress

OK now its more than two years after that first post... where did the time go?

e2eforum has made little progress beyond the concept - a place online for entrepreneurs and executives to share ideas, information and inspiration.

Where to start? How to create a "forum" with enough partipants to make it interesting and valuable?

Some ideas and opportunities are developing. A first draft website is underway and the concepts are being refined. Some strategic partners are appearing that provide the necessary catalyst to accelerate the launch.

Stay tuned.