The Life of a New Consultant

I have now officially sold my clients to one of my employees.  It just made more sense for the company to be headquartered in Baton Rouge, since that is where most of our clients were.  However, I was not about to move to Baton Rouge. 

So now what?

For a while I thought “I just want a job.  I want to go to work, do my job, and come home.”  Now I’m not so sure.  I think I have something to offer smaller, growing companies.  I think I would like to be a consultant.  I feel my experience can help small companies not only with strategy and obtaining finance, but with the really difficult factors in acually running a business.  I feel I can provide expertise and advice in the operations.  I want my clients to be able to continue to run the business from the friends and family round, to the angel round, to the 2nd and 3rd rounds of funding. 

I’m not sure just yet if my work will be on a consulting or a contract basis, or if I will end up working full time for a small company. 

So now I’m out there.  I’m filling my days with coffee and lunch meetings to try to meet as many people as I can.  I’m keeping my options open for the time being, because that’s the only way I’m going to recognize when the right opportunity (ies) comes along.

I met with a prospect yesterday that actually gets it.  They are an older company - 55 years old - but have recently had an ownership change.  The new owner has already made changes, and is growing the business.  They are actually looking for a technology partner to help advise them for their growth projections, rather than just to fix stuff, and order new PC’s when they get a new employee.

I’m not by any means a “technologist.”  I don’t think new technology will change the world, and I don’t think all companies need their own email server and the latest and greatest CRM and ERP tools.  I do, however, know that the technology currently available can make businesses more efficient, and more profitable.  The key to making technology a valuable tool instead of a necessary evil is planning. 

When companies have their technology infrastructure coincide with their business plan, it becomes a tool to lower costs, increase revenue, and grow value. 

A company that is planning to double in size needs to plan ahead.  This will give them to opportunity to buy PC’s at a better price.  It will also allow their new employees to get into their job and start helping the company faster.  It’s never good to spend the money and time to hire someone, only to have them sit at an empty desk for 2 weeks, and to not have email for a month. 

Technology planning can also help manage this growth by digitzing and streamlining processes.  Company growth leads to beaurocracy within the company, and the proper technology plan can help mitigate the time spent closing sales, processing invoices, paying vendors, and communicating with clients. 

I know this seems very obvious.  Much like having architectural plans prior to building, or remodeling, a house.  However, many businesses get very focused on the day to day, and forget to plan.

It has been a few weeks since I’ve posted here.  I have moved into a new house, which is phenomenal.  I have had some family business issues, and I am at a crossroads with my own company.  I can’t remember sleeping more than 4 or 5 hours in a night without the aid of liquor.  I’ve lost 13 lbs. without attempting diet or exercise.  I definitely have not been as mentally involved in my relationships (particularly with my wife) as I should be.

I had a terrible Friday.  I found out we lost the bid for a large state agency contract because we got our bid to the office 2 minutes late.  2 minutes lost us $200,000.  I was angry at the state office for not allowing our bid over 2 minutes.  I was angry with us for not getting the bid done earlier.  I couldn’t even talk Friday night or Saturday morning.

I was in the shower Saturday morning, and had an epiphany.  I know how to, at the very least, save my investment, and at best, save my company.  I was so excited, I couldn’t stop talking.  I got the wheels in motion immediately.  I’m not sure if it was the hot water, the time I needed to think, a divine presence, or a combination of all of these.  I don’t know why, at dark moments, answers come.  I like to think I’m a good, moral, person, and I deserve good things to happen. 

I also like to think that I was given some level of intelligence to put myself in situations that will benefit me, and that I can see the answers that many would not see.

I don’t know how it will all turn out.  I have learned in the last few months that a bit of prayer can put me at ease, and that I should trust my own thoughts.   

In the past I have read about, heard news stories about, and even seen movies about families that have been torn apart by their family businesses.  The story usually has a person that has started a company, and built it to be monstrous.  It functions smoothly because he is the ultimate decision-maker.  As that person leaves power to multiple heirs, the spread in decision-making, along with the spread in money, leads to some epic blow ups. 

Of course, on of the main reasons for these stories is greed.  Everyone who has inherited part of this company wants to get paid more and more.  They can all justify why they’re entitled to it.

Another reason is the need for more power.  Most of the heirs looked up to the company patriarch partly due to the power he wielded from the corner office, the fear (or love) he insprired in his workers, and the relationships he built with customers and vendors.  They try to rule the exact same way, even though they may have different personalities.

I think the main reason heirs end up tearing family businesses, and, thus, families apart is that they all came into the business AFTER it was built.  They can’t possilby understand what it took to get to that level.  Even if they were growing up while dad was building the business, they didn’t undertand business in general.  If you haven’t been through the tough times of building the business, you can’t have the full respect for it, as the patriarch does. 

I mention all this because there is turmoil in my family’s business.  I’m not a part of it yet, and don’t know if I ever will be.  However, as my grandfather and his brother move away from day to day operations (well into their 80’s), my mother, uncles, and their cousins are taking over.  I know they all want the company to succeed, but they differ in their driving forces.  Some want to continue the company to hand to thier kids.  Some just want more money.  Some just want to keep a job until retirement. 

This is all very painful to me because my grandfather just wants everyone in his family to be happy.  He built this business, in part, because he wanted to keep a job.  The by-product was building a company that can sustain itself, and is extremely successful.  He can now hand it over to his kids, and hopefully, grandkids so we will never have to worry for money. 

I hope this story has the happy ending I dream of (and will never actually see because the company will remain for my children and grandchcildren), rather than the sensational Hollywood ending where the family business falls apart.

I won’t dare to utter the dreaded “R-word,” but we are all aware of the current economic situations.  Gas prices are up.  Credit markets are hurting.  The almighty dollar is not so mighty.  Companies are starting to scale back their capital and operational expenditures.  This is a great time to look at processes and determine how to become more efficient and more cost conscious.  

This might seem like a poor time to look at spending money on technology, or on technology services.  However, that technology may make your company more efficient, and able to stave off the downturn.

One of the first things companies can do is to increase the mobility of their workers.  This means there is less gas spent driving to the office and back, which is good for the economy, good for the employees wallets, and good for company efficiency.  If an employee can be working each day right from the get-go, or from a client’s office, that means what was once driving time is now work time.  In addition, I can tell you we have closed deals mainly because we had the ability to make changes to a proposal or service contract while sitting with the client.  If you don’t have to leave their office, you don’t give them extra time to think about it. 

Another option is to choose to outsource technology service rather than have a full-time IT employee.  A company can usually get a more diverse level of technology talent for less money than a salary plus benefits. 

Companies can also find ways to make their processes more efficient through the use of technology.  Forms can be standardized and saved to central servers to be accessed by everyone.  In this way, more repetitive, data-entry type work can be performed by lower-salaried employees, while professionals are able to bring in more clients and perform the analytical work.

The key in a down economy is to view technology spending as an investment for which there will be a return.

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Envision 08 conference in San Antonio.  To be completely honest, I didn’t have real high expectations.  I thought I might meet a few people who could be potential clients.  Mostly, I was hoping to talk with new people and learn about other businesses.  That is something I really enjoy.  I am always trying to figure out who I can introduce to whom. 

After arriving in San Antonio, I checked into the Marriot Rivercenter and was very happy with my room and the hotel.  I grabbed a quick workout, and headed to the networking in the exhibit hall.  I bumbed into some friends from Houston, and met some new people.

We adjourned to dinner in the main salon and were greeted by Richard Scruggs of the Texas A&M Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship.  I quickly realized that in a conference of about 350 people, I was one of out about 5 or 6 Longhorns.  There was one at my table, but he was even from a competing company to mine.

After dinner, Marcus Buckingham was the keynote speaker.  I had heard of him, but must admit, I had never read his books.  I usually don’t expect much from keynote speakers.  I expect them to hawk their latest book, and give some “rah-rah” speech…possibly even getting members of the audience involved on stage.  Marcus was amazing, though.  He was extremely witty, and not in the usual cheesy keynote speaker way. I thought he had great information, a very engaging style, and a message I really enjoyed hearing.  We even got a copy of his latest book.  He was a fantastic start to the conference, and I went to bed thinking about how I can capitalize on my strengths.

The next morning was Guy Kawasaki.  He gave his talk on The Art of Innovation.  Of course, he has some great anecdotes from his time with Apple and as a VC in California.  He is very approachable.  However, as with many entrepreneurs and VC’s who give advice, I take his advice somewhat lightly.  He has had some successes, but those don’t always translate into my business or my life.  I always try to take one or two things from every talk I hear.  What I took from Guy was to have a mantra, not a mission statement.  

I attended a breakout session by Paul Barker of the Afterburner Group about adding value to your business.  I really enjoyed his talk, as I am always trying to add value rather than just adding revenue.  If the revenue I add isn’t valuable, it might not be worth the time and effort.   

After some networking in the exhibit hall, we went in to lunch.  The speaker was Flip Flippen.  My wife has heard him speak and has taken his Capturing Kids’ Hearts course.  His talk was about breaking through the constraints that hold us back in life.  He was very entertaining, and had some good data and anecdotes.  There were some areas where he and Marcus were similar, and there were some conflicting ideas.  Of course, afterward, Mr. Flippen had to answer questions relating to the differences between his and Marcus’s views, and he did so very well.  He was even kind enough to sign a book for my wife afterward. 

I spent the afternoon getting some work done, and missed the afternoon keynote.  That evening we were bussed to a ranch.  The bus ride was incredbily long because of traffic, but I think the wait was worth it.  The ranch was beautiful, and the food was excellent.  I think everyone enjoyed getting out of the hotel and being outdoors.  I had the chance to talk with quite a few people about business.

The next morning the keynote speaker was Stephen Covey.  Of course, I expected his to be the best.  I was a little disappointed though.  I felt as if I had to have read his books to follow along.  There were several diagrams used, as well as teminology from the 7 Habits.  He is also a very monotone speaker, so jokes and changes of topics are difficult to discern.  Maybe it was because it was early, but I really feel like I got the least out of Mr. Covey’s talk.

After I packed up, I had the opportunity to be on the radio through my friend Kathy Bowersox.  I really appreciated it, and I had just enough time to break off an email to my friends to let them know to listen. 

I actually bought the latest Marcus Buckingham book on audio CD for the car ride home.  I have been listening to it, and have even taken the Strengths Finder exam.  I highly recommend it.  I am now a big fan of his, and look forward to reading all his books.

I’ve been saving this little gripe for Earth Day (not really…i’ve been thinking about it, and Earth Day seemed to be a good tiem to get it off my chest).  I have an HP OfficeJet all-in-one printer.  I recently went to OfficeMax to buy the overpriced ink.  I always enjoy playing the “will this fit my printer” game.  Here’s an idea…how about universal officejet printer cartridges?  How novel.  A little standardization would be great.

Anyway…hoping to save a little money, and a little environment, I chose the OfficeMax brand of printer cartridge, which is really just a refilled cartrdige.  I plugged it into my printer, and i get an error message telling me it is the wrong cartridge.  It is exactly the same as a brand new HP cartridge, except for one minor detail…HP doesn’t make any additional revenue when i buy the recycled one. 

Now, I’m all for capitalism, but HP has taken this too far.  After purchasing, and several cartridges, they won’t even give me the choice to use a recycled cartridge.  I, as a small business owner, can’t save a little money, nor can i do a small favor to the environment buy re-using a tiny bit of plastic.

This is the last HP printer i will ever own.

NICE ENVIRONMENTALISM HP!!!

I gave a talk recently at a conference of my peers - other Managed Service Providers.  The topic of my talk was Setting Client Expectations.  The gist of it was that we need to tell the client, before they even become a client, what we will and won’t do, what kind of downtime there will be, what pain they will encounter in the switchover, what their bill from us will look like, etc.  If they know it’s coming, there won’t be any conflict. 

During my talk, I broke into an impromptu aside about how I set expectations now with everyone.  For example, I am terribly unorganized.  I have piles of papers in my multiple offices.  I have a good idea of which pile each bill, letter, etc. is in.  I have a decent idea of how much money is in my checking account, even though I haven’t balanced and reconciled my checkbook since I was in high school.  I also have an amazing group of friends that I’ve had as long as I can remember.  After years of failed relationships, I finally decided to be honest with one woman right when we started dating.  I didn’t pretend to be Mr. Organization, and I after about 3 weeks of dating I informed her that one Saturday I was going to hang with my friends rather than take her out.  We are now very happily married, and I don’t have to ask permission to spend an evening with the guys.  She knows how important they are.  She is also wonderful about putting up with my clutter, and I put up with her need to straighten every so often. 

I’ve also told the people I work with of my disorganization.  I tell them they might have to remind me several times to do things.  It isn’t that I don’t care, or am lazy.  I just have many things going on and haven’t determined how to keep it all organized.  Setting the expectation that, “if I don’t get back to you right away, it isn’t that I’m ignoring” has been tremendously helpful.

The conclusion I came to, that I guess should be obvious, is that we don’t like surprises.  Sure they’re great in a movie, or even as a party, but in our business and personal lives, we want to be prepared.  That’s why almost every day in Houston there is a chance of rain.  That’s why surgeon’s let you know what their process is, what the pain will be, and what the recovery will be like.  The sentence you almost never want to hear from your surgeon is “I bet you didn’t see that coming!”

I know in our company, we can’t understand how other companies handle old PC’s, out of date software, antiquated technology practices.  We talk to prospects, then go back to the office and discuss how badly they need us.  They are completely vulnerable to security breaches and data loss, they are inefficient.  How do they get through the day?  How are they even competent enough to run a business?

Then I hear a CPA each week talk about some of his clients.  He sometimes will be concescending in his description (withholding names, of course) of the clients’ accounting practices, state of finances, etc.  He doesn’t understand how they run their business at all.  Then, of course, this CPA has 5-year old PC’s and no business email.

I guess we are all snobs when it comes to our area of expertise.  An insurance agent can’t understand how someone can even get out of bed in the morning without proper life insurance.  I’m sure French chefs don’t understand the appeal of Outback Steakhouse.

My family owns a mattress manufacturing company.  I don’t get how people can complain about the price of something they will spend a third of their days for the next 10 years on.  Then again…I’ve never had to purchase a mattress in my life.

I guess the key to running a business is to understand how someone else’s snobbery can add value to my business.

I know this is probably blasphemy to any sport-loving person in this country (of which I am definitely one), but I have finally come to this realization.  I sensed that I hated it for quite a while, but confirmed my displeasure with several friends.  Sportscenter has become the WalMart of sports. 

Sportscenter itself is responsible for what sports have become today.  It is responsible for simultaneoulsy reporting on sports, and their downfall.  As my friend, comedian Ben Mowbray put it - “They are the equivalent of a rapist with a helmet cam.”  (Ben was referring to MTV rather than ESPN)  Sportscenter made athletes into celebrities.  They favor the dunk, homerun, and huge hit in football over the more subtle nuances of the games.  They have a nasty habit of nitpicking and over-analyzing every single tiny little word and gestures, then trying to create an issue where there wasn’t one. - “When your coach grinned slyly and blinked prior to answering a question about you in his interview, did you take that as a sign if disrespect?”

They talk about the same stories over and over again, ad nauseum.  They actually dictate rivalries.  Ask anyone in Boston or New York…Yankees-Red sox was never a huge rivalry until ESPN decided a rivalry was good for ratings.  Then the players believe its a rivalry, start throwing at each other, fight because they think they’re being disrespected, and now we want to tune in because we think there will be a fight. 

The part that really gets to me is when they actually have their own reporters talk about how much better the sports used to be.  YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

I have no idea why I got on this rant, except for the fact that I’m no longer capable of watching Sportscenter.