Helping Hearts – How Small Business Helps Haiti
Millions of people around the world tuned in over the weekend for the Hope for Haiti Telethon organized by George Clooney. The show was an amazing spectacle that featured musical performances by Bono, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, Beyonce, Stevie Wonders and many, many more! Hollywood celebs were out in full force to man the phones for the telethon. Julie Roberts, Robert Deniro and Steven Spielberg chatting with donors and giving heartfelt thanks demonstrated a perfect example of everyone pitching in for the cause.
HopeforHaitinow.org achieved record-breaking results, collecting over 58 million in the 24 hours following the broadcast. It was well organized with multiple ways to complete the transaction, including internationals, which is not always easy! Particularly ingenious was the the Donate Now button on the website becoming a Donate Again button after you give (each time). The money will continue to pour in through the sales of the recorded performance, which has reached number 1 in 18 countries. Wow and bravo all around!
So this morning when I glanced at Facebook and noticed the blog post, “Let’s do Something to Help Haiti” by Natalie Carstens of Tigs Creations Photography, I was not convinced that this link would lead me to a new and inspiring initiative to raise money for Haiti, but I was wrong to underestimate Small Business. Continue reading »
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Back to B School
Today, as the 2009-10 school year kicks off at New Business School Amsterdam, I look forward to meeting my new class with great anticipation. Optimistic by nature, I have high hopes for these students and the enterprises they will create in the coming year.
The current climate is difficult at best for businesses large and small. The biggest challenge is yet to come for those waiting for things to get back to normal. Based on my observations this summer, business as usual will be redefined.
My summer began with a trip to St. Louis, where the first signs of decline inmy hometown were apparent as I stepped off the plane into the ghost town that is now Lambert Airport, once a bustling hub. In St. Louis, the retail bubble is ready to burst, but when it does I am convinced that people will be willing to drive more than 2.5 miles from their home to buy new Egyptian cotton bed sheets when the need arises. No need to build more warehouse stores devoted to Linens n Things on every street corner and strip mall. We did our best (shopping) to stimulate the local economy, but the emptiness of vast malls and stores, leads me to believe that many more closures are imminent.
Speaking of closures, driving past the newly automated, state of the art, and now closed Chrysler plant in Fenton, MO, was an ominous example of modernization and innovation not being enough to sustain a business giant. Continue reading »
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Unbridled Optimism
Optimism is infectious, much like entrepreneurship, and the two often go hand in hand. Luckily, both are less nasty than the current flu on offer!
Despite all of the economic doom and gloom of the moment, I am more upbeat and optimistic about business than I have been in recent years, so I’d like to share 9 reasons to be optimistic in 2009!
1. Market! What goes down, will eventually come back up!
2. Opportunity! Crisis forces change and this is an advantage for small business.
3. Innovation! People and companies will be open to doing things differently, instead of the way they’ve always done them.
4. Efficiency! More mindful spending is good for you in the long run, even if your company is unaffected by the downturn.
5. Reality! With the illusion of prosperity and easy money stripped away, you will make better decisions.
6. Courage! Have the guts to make a move you’ve been contemplating.
7. Momentum! Identify what is going well in your business or career and build on it.
8. Hope! Obama.
9. Inspiration! If 1-8 don’t do it for you, surround yourself with people that are seizing the opportunities and reap the rewards of their infectious optimism!
Small is the new Big!
Great news for me since I am into Small Business in a big way! In working with small business owners, I am constantly encouraging, convincing, begging them to think big! Here is a great interview with Seth Godin on the virtues of small. The interview appears on Etsy, the rapidly growing online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade.
Here is the take away, “Small is the new big only when the person running the small business thinks Big!”
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