Adaptation: What is your company's 2.0?

While the economic uncertainties of the fall seemed to deliver an air of pause, caution, and consideration, the new year - and the resounding revelation that the soured economic climate is here to stay - seems to have helped usher in a call for action.
The last few months have encouraged many of us entrepreneurs to recalculate and recalibrate. And now it is time to move. Ah, adaptation - the plan previously unforeseen, the unplanned path taken.

We have talked and worked with many who are in the process of adapting their company, product, service, offering - in other words creating the 2.0 version of their own company. Maybe, for your company, it previously made sense to do one thing, but now, another. Perhaps a former best-seller is replaced by a lower-cost version or a new suddenly-in-demand product. Or, alternatively, the climate change has brought about opportunities and markets that didn't exist before. On a smaller scale, it could be that your offering remains the same but your pitch and positioning has changed to match the new marketplace.

With adaptation on the brain, we spotted some interesting examples from a Fast Company
article this month. The larger article highlights "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies", but a few adaptation examples stood out. In each case, these adaptations have been in the works long before the economic downtown began, however, they demonstrate the type of thinking (mirroring customer need) that is required today.

Amazon - no description needed, as everyone is familiar with the online marketplace GIANT. However, CEO Jeff Bezos had something really interesting to say about Amazon's recent foray into the product market with the recently launched Kindle reader. "There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you are good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward." Read Fast Company's profile.

Etsy - originally an online handmade artist community cum marketplace, Etsy is continuing to adapt and change its offering to meet the growing needs of both its buyers and sellers. Some of the new projects that they have integrated into the offering are their "This Handmade Life" - an opportunity for sellers to establish a personal relationship with buyers by profiling themselves and their business through images, text, videos, etc.; "Virtual Labs" - online meet-ups that can be used (by sellers, buyers, and observers alike) as trunk shows, workshops, and special interest groups; "Custom Section" - an opportunity for buyers to post their specific need and receive bids from interested crafters and artists. Read Fast Company's profile.

Zappos - innovative and adaptive from the start and a fantastic example of entrepreneurship, Zappos began by bucking the status quo in online shopping by taking a very customer-experience-centric perspective. Not only do they provide free shipping BOTH WAYS!, but they incorporated multi-view product images to help incorporate a primary advantage of traditional, off-line shopping. Read Fast Company's profile.

We suspect that this will be a prevalent theme and business challenge for some time to come. So, if you haven't already started to think about your company's 2.0, now is the time!
If you have already started to think about it or act on it, then great! We would love to know! Share with us how you have adapted your company in response to the changing economic climate.

Need some inspiration or guidance?
An excerpt in the Lyles Center newsletter, and originally from Donald Kuratko, offers a helpful overview of what they call "source of innovative ideas". We think of them more like game changers, things that shake up the marketplace and create opportunity, such as unexpected occurrences, incongruities, process needs. It may be helpful to think about how these 8 shifts apply to your business. We want to know:

In what ways have you ADAPTED?
Services?
Products?
Offerings?
Positioning?
The customer experience?
Your operations?

posted by Adelaide

Be VISIBLE

If there is any advice to be given for 2009 it is to BE VISIBLE. It is so imperative in this uncertain economy to remain on the on the radar of your existing clients and potential clients. As people are taking a “trimming the fat” approach to business expenses and are being much more cautious about business investments, you want to make sure that you are not one of the casualties. How do you do that? Make sure that customer service is a major priority. Make sure that you are doing all that you can for your clients. Check in with them and see if there is any way that you can be of more help. In lieu of sending a “thanks for being a customer” note, demonstrate that through your actions.

If companies have put projects on hold, you want to keep the dialog going. Maintain your connection so that when they restart the project, they will choose you as the vendor. DO NOT DISSAPEAR.

We encourage you to be creative about how to stay on the radar. Send your clients articles that you believe are relevant and interesting to them. If you are a social networker, make sure to send updates about recent successes and current projects.

In addition, we cannot emphasize how important the "in-person" is, both for making new connections as well as strengthening existing ones. Nothing replaces the face-to-face meeting. While people have relied on online tools (social networks, email) to keep connected, we suggest that those techniques supplement in person connectivity.

Now is the time to go to conferences, events and strategic networking meetings.

Now stop reading this blog and go out an meet a client or colleague in person!

posted by Amy Abrams

REAL DEAL: The PR Lowdown! (recap)

We were thrilled to have a full house for our first “real deal” event - The PR Lowdown - on Wednesday…we took over the back work lounge in order to accommodate almost 40 attendees. We developed the Real Deal series as a way to demystify and explore business topics that are challenging for small business owners to get REAL information about…things like PR, and web presence (March 4), and SEO (April 1).

Our fabulous and generous panel members included Marci Alboher, Lisa Roth, Lori Dolnick, and Joanne Cole, all of whom have experience in multiple roles in the world of journalism and public relations.

In addition to tons of tips and resources our discussion included PR topics such as:
* when do you need to work with a PR professional and what is the value of doing so?
* when is it appropriate for business owners to 'do it on their own'?
* what are you able to do for your clients that they really aren't able to do for themselves?
* what 'cons' should be considered before taking it on yourself? Things to watch out for or be aware of?

& on the Journalist side, we discussed:
* How do you find the subjects for your articles?
* What roles do PR reps play in that process? What about press releases?
* How has your “sourcing” changed over the last few years, if at all?
* What compels you to make an ongoing relationship with a source?
* What compels you to choose one source or expert over another?

The audience also engaged the panel on the role of new media in PR and journalism…how it has changed things, what tools to use, what to know about etiquette, and where to get informed!

It was a fantastic conversation and we are very grateful to all who participated!

Looking forward to the other upcoming panels!!

A REFRESHING REALITY

There was a really interesting article in the NY Times a few weeks ago by Peggy Klaus (workplace communication and leadership expert) entitled, “A Sisterhood of Workplace Infighting”. (The article was brought to our attention by IGC member, Rossanna Figuera.

Among other things, Peggy discusses the all too common bullying behavior that goes on between women in the workplace. I think many of us have experienced this in some form or another. So, while the phenomenon may seem a counter-intuitive trend in the face of the women’s movement, present day equality and representation-oriented workplace initiatives, and some of the more positive female stereotypes of nurturing and compassionate behavior, it is not a surprising one.

I have to admit though, reading this made me so immensely grateful and proud of the in good company community and membership. While we were shopping this idea (a community workspace for women entrepreneurs) around to folks during our start-up phase many people, both men and women, expressed concern about the potential for catty and bitchy behavior in a workplace for just women.

While we certainly didn’t expect that would be true - thank goodness the concern was for naught!

Everyday we observe members to be helpful and supportive towards each other, often offering strategic advice, contacts, resources, and ideas. We have witnessed this collaboration and collegial expression even between members in the same industry who could choose to view themselves as competitors.

You can speculate about why IGC is home to these overwhelmingly warm and positive interactions…perhaps it is because we are not all part of the same company. Or perhaps it is because there is a marked (though not complete!) absence of men. Or perhaps it is because as entrepreneurs we experience everyday the benefits of helping each other and paying it forward. Or perhaps it is because we are only a part-time location for even our most frequent members.

But for whatever the reason, I am glad to work with you all! And I am glad to see that there are places where this female bullying doesn’t exist!

Posted by Adelaide Fives

COMPANY YOU KEEP - MEMBER DIGEST

Archived versions of our monthly member digest are now available!!

For those who haven’t read them before, the digest is our way of sharing with you (women business owners, entrepreneurs – aspiring or otherwise) some of the best news on small business ideas, models, and innovation that we discover. The content has been filtered because it makes us think differently and critically about entrepreneurship and our business. We hope it will challenge and enhance your thinking too!

In each Digest you will find at least 4 sections:

Mindset: Topic-based thoughts from Adelaide Fives & Amy Abrams
Business LookBook: An interesting, innovative, and thought-generating business or business concept.
Clippings: Relevant and thought-provoking articles and news
Musings: A recap of our blog posts…(which if you are reading this here, you can already see!!)

Our Archive Home Page

And as a short cut, here are links to:

Jan Digest
Dec Digest
Nov Digest
Oct Digest

Happy Reading & Thinking!

Adelaide & Amy

OFF TO A GOOD START

This week we had a great Consultants Connection Meeting, where we discussed “Cleaning Out Our Clients”. Participants had an opportunity to categorize their current client list consider both profitability and value (other rewards besides money that you may get from working with certain clients, such as contacts, challenge, diversification into a new field or industry, fodder for a book or article, that feel good feeling).

Once we identified the types of clients that we had, we then had the chance to think about those relationships as part of our larger business strategy.

* What makes a client both high value and high profit? How do you get more of them?

* What can you do to increase the profitability of those clients that are high value but low profit? What impact does having a large/disproportionate amount of these clients have on your business? (i.e. Opportunity costs!!).

* What can you do to decrease the negative impact of low value clients, even if they are high profit?

Folks suggested partnering with other professionals who may be better equipped to service these clients or help you with the parts you don’t like. Other people suggested weeding these clients out through better screening before the engagement begins.

* Lastly, what should you do about low value, low profit clients?

Get rid of them!! They are taking up valuable time and energy that can be better spent on better clients!

Further insights were discussed, such as:

* The role that marketing plays in both attracting the clients of clients you have AND setting expectations for the way the work gets done.

* Also, participants considered the a lot of troublesome client behavior can be mitigated through both good screening and good coaching about client expectations and boundaries.

It was, as always, refreshing and encouraging being able to discuss these common challenges with such smart and strategic women…I think we all left with tons of food for thought! Thank you to everyone who participated for your WONDERFUL contributions!


posted by Adelaide Fives

A HIP HOP HAPPENING GOOD TIME

Wow. What fun we had at our holiday party on Wednesday night!

How exciting to kick back and have fun with so many in good company members.

It was such a rewarding experience to see so see our amazing and strong community and to have the chance to celebrate in good company.

We are very clear that we owe everything to our members and we are so thankful for all of your enthusiasm and graciousness. It is such a gift to witness how many of you have strong independent relationships with each other and how much admiration and respect you have for each other. And Amy and I consider ourselves very lucky to get to know and work with you all!

A BIG thank you to Betsy from ninecakes for the delicious cupcakes. They were amazing and the talk of the party. Betsy's cupcakes are divine tasting and the perfect size to sample all the amazing flavors...the ginger was to die for, the peppermint was amazing, and I apparently wasn't quick enough to get one of the mayan chocolate flavored...next time!

And, another BIG thank you to our expert gift wrappers and gift donators. Through the gift drive, our community contributed 50 beautifully wrapped gifts for the teen girls served by Step Up Women's Network.

And, for those of you who wanted access to the music that was playing, I upload much of the mix to the itunes iMix section (click music, then iMix) you can search under "IGC Holiday Mix" to find it.

We ended up getting too distracted by the conversation and good times to take as many pictures as we had wanted, but here are a few:

Only, First, Best? REALLY? Keep it to yourself!

I was recently looking at the corporate underwriting (advertising) opportunities on my local NPR station - WHYY in Philadelphia and was struck by their submission guidelines.

They permit your "spot" to include the following:
• Names of products or services
• Non-promotional, value-neutral description of products or services
• Company location and number of years in business
• Telephone number, e-mail address or Web site address

They DO NOT permit:
• Comparative or qualitative descriptions of products or services
• Superlatives (e.g. "best" or "biggest")
• Price references, even if the product or service is free
• Calls to action or inducements to buy
• Third party endorsements from newspapers, magazines, etc.

HOW REFRESHING!!!

No wonder their advertisements aren't so annoying to hear!

No wonder I have such a positive image of many of their sponsors (even though I may have no direct experience as a consumer of many of these businesses and organizations).

What if all advertising had this much integrity?

Can people be just as effective without grandiose claims or negative digs?

(ps, both political campaigns could have received some good counsel from this policy.)

I have heard the conventional wisdom that supports the stating of numbers, the cattle call of achievements, heightened sense of urgency, and the slighting of others as effective advertising tools.

However, in most cases, I have to disagree.

I think the NPR kind of guidelines instead make you focus more closely on articulating your value proposition and underlying goal.

What your business does and why is then left to stand on its own, uncluttered by boisterous empty phrases.

Devoid of gimmicky language or sales-y speak, this kind of advertising forces a genuine and candid exchange between you and the consumer, mano a mano, as they say.

It makes you think....

* What would your NPR ad say?
* Would this position your company strongly?
* Would you be confident in your message?

posted by Adelaide

SELF-EMPLOYED / SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

The SBA Office of Advocacy published an interesting report by economist Dr. Chad Moutray called: Baccalaureate Education and the Employment Decision: Self-Employment and the Class of 1993.

The study found that "College graduates who specialize in social science tend toward self-employment as compared to those with bachelor’s degrees in other subjects".

Interesting, no? Any other social science majors out there? As for me, I double majored in Sociology/Anthropology and Educational Studies...so this finding can certainly be generalized to me!

The study doesn't posit any theories on the correlation, but instead leaves us to our own musings...

* Perhaps it is because we social science majors are interested in the nuance and complexity of the social world. We see the interconnections and linkages between themes, patterns, systems, and people.

* Or perhaps, it is because most social science majors graduate asking the question, "What can you really do with a degree in XYZ?". And because of this we are left to our own creative devices when it comes to career development.

* Or perhaps it is because the study of social sciences instills in us an inquisitive tradition, encouraging us to go about the world asking "why things are the way they are?" and "under what circumstances could they be different?"

For what it is worth, Moutray also found "that business and management majors are more likely to work in for-profit businesses while those with specialized degrees such as health, education, or biology are more likely to end up working for non-profits and the government."

And, that "race, ethnicity, and gender did not play a large role in who became self-employed."

However quite humorously, the study found that a student’s motivation as measured by a series of “values” questions in 1993, closely tracked with employment decisions a decade later.

"Those who valued job-security were more likely to be government employees, those who desired intellectual challenge were likely to work in non-profits, and those who did not highly value prestige and status were more likely to be self-employed."

All of this seems so true to me! Although, the fact that the students didn't highly value prestige and status may have explained why they (we) were social science majors in the first place!

posted by Adelaide

Feng Shui 101 – Enhancing Your Life by Enhancing Your Space
posted by Ann Bingley Gallops, of The Organized Life

There was great energy in the room for my “Feng Shui 101” workshop on October 21! Everyone who came was interested in learning how to improve their lives with Feng Shui, the art and science of enhancing your life by enhancing your space.

Feng Shui has been used for thousands of years and is still a very big part of Chinese culture, slowly making its way to the West. In fact, Feng Shui is all around us. One prominent personality, Donald Trump, has been using it in all his buildings ever since he found out that Feng Shui could help him make more money!

If you weren’t able to make it and are curious about some of the things we talked about, here’s a sample:

Everything in our surroundings has a physical and psychological effect on us. Feng Shui enhances the beneficial aspects of our environment, while minimizing the not-so-beneficial ones. It’s about enhancing your health, abundance and well-being, so that you’re better equipped to live the life of your dreams.

Feng Shui literally means Wind & Water, which is a great metaphor for describing one of its most important concepts: how chi (life force) energy flows in our lives. It aims to harmonize our man-made environments with the ways of nature. For example, Feng Shui doesn’t like straight lines or sharp corners because nature doesn’t create things that flow this way: they’re unnatural.

Feng Shui works on two levels: knowing which changes need to be made, and knowing why you’re making them. It identifies how chi flows and where it is blocked, because blockages in your space are likely to correlate with where you are blocked in your life. Feng Shui “cures” are designed to correct those blockages.

We use three tools to analyze and work with any space: Yin & Yang, the Bagua (energy map), and the Five Elements. These tools were developed in ancient China as a way to identify the dynamics in any space.

Yin & Yang symbolize the balance of “feminine” and “masculine” polarities in a space.

The Bagua is an eight-sided energy map that describes the most important parts of your life. It’s the tool we use to align your space with your life so that you can bring intention and purposefulness to every important part of your life including your career, your love life, your health and more.

Finally, the Five Elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water -- are used to balance and harmonize specific visible and invisible energies in your space.

Here are just a few more key concepts: place the most important piece of furniture in each room in “the Command position”, which is in the place farthest from the door, slightly diagonal to it (think of the best seat in the restaurant!). This will give you the best vantage point from which to be in control of your environment.

And of course, clear clutter! If there’s one thing that “chi” gets stuck on, it’s clutter: you can’t have good Feng Shui in a cluttered environment! And things that are well-cared-for signify your intention to take the very best care of yourself, too!

There’s so much more, so I hope you’ll take one of my future workshops at IGC, or give me a call at 646-382-3878 to find out more.

posted by Ann Bingley Gallops, of The Organized Life