Nail the Basic!

"If you have a strong foundation like we have, then you can build or rebuild anything on it. But if you've got a weak foundation you can't build anything."- Jack Scalia

to have a strong foundation is a must in pursuing a great life or businesses. as for this post, it is about ways to develop a great foundation for those wannabe entrepreneurs. strong foundation is the fundamental of a successful structure and in this case, your business. 

well. I got my myself a new book few days back (a present actually). a great one. simple yet profound. a book written by michaelFranzese, a former Capo in Colombo crime family that ran rackets that earn millions a week. you bet his view on business will be La Cosa Nostra style with a mix of Machavellian's and Solomon's philosophy. and for those who think that there's nothing in common whatsoever between Mobster and Legal business, think again! 

To study his life, the insider of this more than usd50billion industry (the figure is only from traditional mob business such as narcotics, gambling, loan shark etc. it is not yet combine with billions more revenue that are generated through mob diversification into legal business. deym!) give me such a great insight of what real business is all about.

so, lets cut to the chase and get it started! 

number 1 : get a frickin' plan

what is your plan? if you reply to make money than you are dead wrong. change your mindset buddy! unless u are a counterfeiter, u are not in the business of making money. you are in the business of taking money. yup! u heard it right. u take it from anybody who are willing to pay for whatever value that you give in return. like the mob, the bottom line of your business is to take a way as much money as you can from your clients pockets and get into yours. so, are u a business man or a mobster? :P same end game, different game plan!

it is crucial to have a clear, focus, written plan of your business. it'll help to keep you on track as far as the direction you want your business want to take, what your bottom line is and how u plan to get there. and spare me, im not talking about 300pages of businessPlan. i'm talking about a simple, clear and focused written statement with definite outcome of what you want. Make it simple, Make it real. create a specific yet simple blue print of how your business gonna take money into your bank account.  

dont get killed in you pajama! o.O

"what the hell is he doing in his pajama? he got whacked at eleven o'clock in the money!"

there's no successful mobster or businessman who didnt start his day at the crack of dawn (at least during their first few struggling years). for those of you who think you can achieve success in business without putting in the time, you better get yourself a drawer full of silk pajamas. that's about the closest thing of feeling wealthy that u're going to get buddy!

there are NO magic formulas in business, because real life has too many variables. But from what i've seen, there's one denominator among successful people - they work hard n smart. working hard n smart does not guarantee u success. there's no guarantee in life. remember that! but working and smart is a prime ingredient to be success. God is fair. don't expect something big if you are not willing to pay the price.

the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. business owners are faced with challenges all the time. but the harder you work to build your business, the less likely you are to give in to the pressure. dig in! hard work builds character, and strong character makes strong leaders and strong businesspeople.

but dont be stupid about it. one of your top goals in working hard to be successful must be to create a quality life. being in business is about having the freedom to enjoy life. make sure you leave time for other areas of your life that are important - like family, friends and faith.

cut to the chase!

so youve got ur plan, n u are working it hard, make sure u also work it well. Mobster like to keep business matters simple. their motto is "cut to the chase".  they believe in eliminating the clutter. they want a fast n an easy way to cash. 

if your business plan lays out ur goals, the u'll want to get them with as little friction as possible. following every rabbit, answering every call, putting off for tomorrow what can be done right this minute - this is the recipe for disaster. all that is clutter. head clutter. life clutter. its going to block you from reaching your goals. cut it out. you got to cut to the chase.

there will be times when conditions arising in ur business that will require quick action. if you have kept things simple all along, making a regular habits of cutting to the chase, the when a problem does arise, u will be able to quickly n efficiently put out the fire. 

you gotta have a crew.

"two are better than one, because they ahve a good return for their work."

to achieve success in business, it is imperative that u assemble the right crew to support your effort. a good crew is the best evidence that u are intelligent n competent n give u a fighting chance in executing ur plan. 

a few things to keep in mind, u've got to have guys who are capable, reliable and most important, honest.

enlist the consigliere..

it's not enough to have crew. u need to have consigliere. thats the italian word for an advisor or counselor.

"make plans by seeking advice; if u wage war, obtain guidance."

mob bosses understand the importance of seeking wise counsel from someone they trust in managing the business of the mob. a few things to keep in mind about choosing consigliere : a mob consigliere is suppose to be devoid of ambition. this makes him more likely to render advice based on on what is in the best interest of the business - not anyone else, including the boss.

covering the basic means u're standing on the firm ground from which you operate. same in the mob life as a legit life. get a plan, work it hard, work it efficiently and get people around you who can help you implement it. do that and u'll be ready to deliver an offer the recipient cant refuse.

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Business Plan Milestones

One of the absolute keys to a successful business plan is to create the right business plan milestones. Doing so is essential to securing investors and making real progress towards achieving your goals. 

The story below illustrates the importance of business plan milestones, after which is some guidance regarding how you can create the right business plan milestones for your company.

There are lots of things that all of us do, and do as well as we have to, without thinking.

Like pumping gas.

I just pumped gas this morning. And thought nothing of it. Until now.

The fact is that I didn't just pump gas. Sure, the entire process of what I did was called pumping gas. But I did a lot of things that made up that process.

1. I pulled into the gas station.
2. I pulled next to a pump.
3. I put the car in park.
4. I turned off my engine.
5. I got out of the car.
6.  I popped open the gas flap.
7. I swiped my credit card into the machine.
8. I typed in my zip code.
9. I pressed the button for the type of gas I wanted.
10. I unscrewed the gas cap.
11. I took the gas nozzle out of the machine and stuck it into my gas tank.
12. I squeezed the lever.
13. I waited while the tank filled up.
14.  I put the gas nozzle back into the machine.
15. I pressed "no" I don't want a receipt.
16. I screwed my gas cap back on.
17. I shut the gas flap.
18. I got back in my car.
19. I turned on the engine.
20. I put the car in drive.
21. I drove off.

Wow. I did 21 things just to pump gas?

So who cares? Well, investors care. And partners care. And the success of your business cares.

Let me explain.

Your business is currently at point A. Where you want to go is to point B. Now getting from point A to point B requires you to complete milestones.

And the most important milestones are what I call "risk mitigating milestones." These are the milestones the help eliminate the risk of your company failing.

Let me give you some examples. For Google in its early days, risk milestones included completing their initial result ranking algorithms, getting customer to start using its search engine, and generating revenues.

Obviously once Google was generating a lot of revenues, it was not a very risky investment. But before customers starting using Google.com, it was very risky. And before its initial algorithms were developed, it was even riskier.

Every business has risk mitigating milestones. Investors obviously prefer to back businesses where more risk milestones have been removed. I know I do.

Would you prefer to back a restauranteur who just has a vision for a new restaurant; or would you rather back that same restauranteur after the ideal location has been determined, the restaurant has been built, the staff has been hired and trained, the local newspapers have given it a great review, and the restaurant now has 250 loyal patrons and is booming every night?

It is your job as an entrepreneur to identify your risk mitigating milestones. And not only do you have to identify them, but you need to prioritize them. So that every day you are spending quality time working to accomplish them (and not spending time doing things like replying to emails that seem to be adding value; but which don't actually put you closer to accomplishing your risk milestones).

But, actually, you can't work on completing your risk mitigating milestones each day until you break up each of these milestones into much smaller projects. For example, Google creating its initial algorithm and a restauranteur finding an ideal location are great milestones, but way too large to accomplish on a daily basis.

Each milestone needs to be broken down into numerous chunks; chunks that can be completed every day, and progress made. It's like writing a book. If you write one page every day, by the end of the year, you'll have a 365 page book.

And it's like pumping gas. You need to do a ton of smaller things in order to accomplish the big thing. And like with pumping gas, when you spend the time breaking the task into pieces, you often see how easy each piece is to accomplish.

Developing risk mitigating milestones is an absolutely essential component of your business plan, and belongs in your Operations Plan section. Investors need to understand these milestones and your projected timeline for accomplishing them. You need to understand them to prioritize your time and hire the right people at the right time.

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The Ultimate Goal: Becoming a Verb

When starting a new Web site or Internet service, most technologists are aiming to sell to a larger company or gain hundreds of millions of users. But for some there is an even bigger glory than cash: their company name becomes a verb.

It didn’t take long for Google to win this honor, as people began saying “let me Google that” instead of using the verb “search.” Microsoft hopes that its search engine, Bing, is on its way to this usage too.

And of course this idea goes beyond search sites. Take Twitter, for example, which has been verbified with the advent of the word “tweet.”

Then there’s Facebook, Skype, Photoshop and many more technology brands that pop up as verbs in daily conversation.

But a company name turning into a verb has not always been seen as a good thing. Before the rise of Google, teams of lawyers were constantly at the ready to fight the use of a trademarked company name, especially when it was used to represent an action or even an entire industry.

Fred Shapiro, editor of “The Yale Book of Quotations” and a trademark consultant, said in an interview that although some company names had become standard verbs, including Xerox, Rollerblade and FedEx, the fear in the past was that such company names would be so commonly used that they would become “generified,” potentially losing trademark status.

Over the last several years this mentality has rapidly shifted as the Web has taken off. Now the power of word-of-mouth marketing can lead to widespread awareness of a start-up.

“What is new is that in recent years some technology companies have begun to think of ‘verbing’ as a good thing,” Mr. Shapiro said in an e-mail. “Their thinking is that there is a strong positive marketing value from verbing, because verbs connote activity and excitement and because widespread use of a mark as a verb extends brand recognition.”

For many companies online, where strong competition can quickly squelch a new start-up, this type of free marketing can far outweigh any dangers of the word or term becoming diluted.

“The success of brands in technology, like Photoshop and Google, has opened people’s eyes to the fact that becoming a verb is not always a bad thing,” Mr. Shapiro said.

It is still unclear whether verbification will have a lasting positive effect on these brands. Names like Band-Aid, Tylenol and Laundromat have become generic terms, even with a team of lawyers trying to defend their usage. Now, just because Johnson & Johnson invented the term “Band-Aid” doesn’t mean you’re going to buy that product specifically from them.

Who knows, maybe one day the word Google will become so synonymous with “searching” that you could end up Googling something on Bing.

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a financial Beethoven who could visualize a symphony where others hear only a tune

James J. Ling, a plucky Texan whose dazzling financial acrobatics and steely nerve helped make him one of the early leaders in the drive to build giant American conglomerates, died on Dec. 17 at his home in Dallas.He was 81. 

The cause was esophageal cancer, Charles Ling, his brother, said.

Mr. Ling, known as Jimmy, collected companies the way boys collect baseball cards as he built the nation's 14th-biggest company,LTV, in just 14 years. During the 1960's, he was one of several top business people, like Harold Geneen of International Telephone and Telegraph and Charles G. Bluhdorn of Gulf & Western Industries, who engaged in relentless pursuit of ever more sweeping conglomerates.

Mr. Ling rose from poverty in Oklahoma to become an electrician when he hit upon the idea of selling shares in his electrical supply business to the public. He distributed prospectuses from a booth at the Texas State Fair and in 90 days raised $738,000.

He promptly bought a small California aerospace company, and soon was juggling tender offers, convertible debentures, bank loans and more with such agility that he became known as Mr. Merger. It often seemed the driving motive of Mr. Ling and his competitors was not to buy companies because they fitted into existing business lines but simply because they seemed cheap.

By voraciously gobbling up corporations, the LTV Corporationbecame the fastest-growing company in the United States from 1955 to 1965, according to Fortune magazine in 1966. At its peak in 1969, LTV employed 29,000 workers and offered 15,000 separate products - from hamburgers to missiles, from tennis rackets to jet bombers.

It was all a result of Mr. Ling's awesomely byzantine deals. Inc. magazine in 1984 called him "a financial Beethoven who could visualize a symphony where others hear only a tune." Colleagues said that when he talked you had to "listen fast."

It was also necessary to listen carefully. In an interview in 1981, Harold G. Simmons, a Dallas businessman who had been a partner of Mr. Ling in the years after LTV failed, suggested that Mr. Ling's legendary perspicacity obscured some exaggeration and omission.

When he talks, people don't know what he is talking about, Mr. Simmons suggested. "He uses a jargon that's all his own."

Mr. Ling had a typically snappy retort to Mr. Simmons. "The worst thing is to be a minority shareholder to Harold Simmons," he was quoted in the interview.

Mr. Ling preferred to be the biggest stakeholder, and once had 80 percent of his wealth in LTV stocks.

"You realize that here's a guy who bets every day, on every decision he makes, a tremendous personal stake - $50 million or $60 million," said Clyde Skeen, LTV's president and Mr. Ling's closest associate when he was interviewed by The Saturday Evening Post in 1968.

James Joseph Ling was born on Dec. 31, 1922, in Hugo, Okla. His father, Henry, a devout Catholic, was a fireman in train locomotives who killed a belligerent fellow worker, an equally fervent Protestant, in what a jury ruled was self-defense. Henry nonetheless retreated to a Carmelite monastery amid feelings of guilt. Mr. Ling's mother, Mary, died when he was 11.

The family scattered. Mr. Ling bounced between relatives and boarding schools. He dropped out of high school, partly because he had skipped three grades and felt out of place, The Saturday Evening Post said.

He began a seven-year period of "bumming around," working at jobs from busboy to bookkeeper. He advanced from apprentice electrician to journeyman, a process that usually took three years, in six months.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1944, and was sent to the Philippines where he recovered electrical equipment from destroyed ships. He was discharged in 1946 and within a year had sold his Dallas house to raise $2,000 in capital. He used it to set up a small electrical contracting firm specializing in wiring new houses, then began bidding on industrial contracts.

Sales increased from $70,000 his first year to $1.5 million in 1955, the year he did his first stock offering. He soon bought a California company that made vibration-testing gear needed by the aerospace industry.

Other acquisitions followed, including, in 1960, the Temco Electronics and Missiles Company, which became the T in LTV. The next year, he bought Chance Vought Inc., an aircraft company that became the V in LTV. (The L was for Ling.)

LTV remained a nickname until 1972, when it formally replaced the Ling-Temco-Vought Corporation.

Vought hardly slowed Mr. Ling's shopping spree: he bought Okonite in 1965, Wilson & Company in 1967 and the Greatamerica Corporation in 1968, among others. He perfected his technique of splitting off divisions into separate companies, then selling shares in these companies for more than the market had valued the parent.

He dazzled Dallas, famously imperturbable in matters of ostentatious wealth, by building a Louis XV-like mansion with grounds copied from Versailles. It featured a marble bathtub that people said cost $25,000 until Mr. Ling set them straight, revealing that it had cost $12,000.

His empire fell apart after he acquired the money-losing Jones & Laughlin Steel Company in 1970, and had to sell subsidiaries to try to stanch the financial hemorrhage. Mr. Ling resigned under bankers' orders. His first comeback try, Omega-Alpha, went bankrupt in 1975. The name, taken from the last and first letters of the Greek alphabet, had been meant to suggest that the last would again be first.

He continued to make deals, many in the energy business, almost until his death.

Mr. Ling's wife, Dorothy, died in 1991. He is survived by his daughter, Tess Fry, of Hillsboro, Tex.; his sons, James T., of Parker, Tex.; Robert, of Houston, and Richard, of Lake Dallas; his sister, Catherine Stromie, of Tulsa, Okla.; his brothers Charles and Mike, both of Dallas, 13 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Ling's dream was literally to change the arithmetic of doing business, and his focus on creatively deploying an acquired company's underlying assets became common financial practice. He spelled out his philosophy in LTV's 1966 annual report.

"Most importantly," it said, "acquisitions must meet the test of the 2 plus 2 equals 5 (or 6) formula."

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Are You a Schmoozer or a Closer?

To bring in big business, you need two distinct types of personalities. Part of the trick is figuring out which one you are.

I’m guessing you generate the lion’s share of the revenue for your company. But have you ever stopped to think about your selling style? I have found that company owners tend to be either schmoozers or closers. Being a good schmoozer can undermine your closing ability, so knowing which one you are can reveal who your next hire should be.

The schmoozer

A schmoozer is a front person for a company. Usually thought leaders, schmoozers are good at glad-handing customers, making people feel loved. They remember customers by name and ask them about their lives. They are both door openers and door warmers.

The closer

To be effective, a schmoozer needs to hand opportunities to a closer. The closer, understanding a customer’s needs in detail, exposes a problem—often to the point of discomfort for the prospect—and proposes a solution. Closers may be friendly but rarely become friends with customers, keeping their distance to retain their bargaining position in a negotiation.

A good schmoozer needs to remain everybody’s friend—keeping things light and informal, smoothing over the rough edges of a commercial relationship. A good closer, on the other hand, needs to know how to ratchet up the pressure in a negotiation, applying just the right amount of leverage to get a customer to decide without turning them off. If a schmoozer is the grease, the closer is the crowbar.

I don’t think a founder can be—or should be—both a schmoozer and a closer. You have to decide your role and hire for the other. For example, Don Tapscott, co-author of Paradigm Shift, Wikinomics and the 2010 bestseller, Macrowikinomics, built his former company, New Paradigm, with the help of Joan Bigham, his second-in-command, who is a pure salesperson.

“(A salesperson) is an amazing kind of person actually,” he says. “They view ‘no’ as information, and they never take it personally. Someone says, ‘I have no interest in what you’re doing,’ and she says, ‘Great—now we’re engaged in a conversation.’ Most people are not really salespeople. They take stuff too personally. (They think), ‘You don’t like me, you don’t like my company, I’m a failure.’ A consummate salesperson thinks very dispassionately and strategically about the selling process.”

Tapscott, the schmoozer, explains the interplay between his role and that of his closer: “I make rain at a very high level. I need someone to use that to help the garden grow – to plant the seeds, to nourish them and fertilize them and get real value. It’s one thing for someone to say, ‘Gee, what Tapscott does is really interesting, and I think it could be important to our company,’ and it’s another thing for them to sign on the line to spend a few hundred thousand dollars per year to get some good insights.”

Tapscott was able to sell New Paradigm three years ago in part because he had segregated the role of schmoozer and closer so well. He agreed to continue to be a rainmaker for New Paradigm, now called Moxie Insight, for five years. Today, Tapscott’s books and speeches continue to unearth leads, but he’s not closing; he’s schmoozing.

So are you the schmoozer or the closer?

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