Tough times = Opportunity

We can with out a doubt call these times tough, with job loses sky rocketing, the economy as unstable as it was a year ago and us all waiting to see when the bottom will exactly be the bottom.

But wait! There are always silver linings in the clouds of gloom! Always a reaction to an action, up to a down. Stocks go down, gold goes up, fuel prices go up, travel goes down but movie ticket sales go through the roof! Now is the time to look for the opportunities , the silver linings. Many of our displaced workers have become entrepreneurs, starting they own businesses, choosing to work for themselves, finding the niche markets and silver linings of tough times. I am always thrilled but never amazed in the American entrepreneurial spirit and how it seems to thrive during the worst of times and powers us through the best of times.

Be bold and brave, get out there with that American spirit and make it happen for yourself like so many have already done before you. Hard work, determination and persistence are the key ingredients to the recipe of success.

Increased value for the customer is key!

The economy is still struggling and so is business. In such times providing increased value to customers is key. I recently stayed at a hotel that seemed to go out of their way to show me how much they did not care about my repeat business. How? They provided the opposite of value to me by charging me for services that normally would be free or a courtesy. By decreasing their value to me and increasing the nickel and dime factor they lost me as a repeat customer. Providing additional value can be done in the simple low or no cost ways, such as concierge services, free WiFi service, not charging a bag fee like SouthWest has begun. If your services value goes up when customer’s disposable cash goes down then your business is more likely to retain its regular customers as well as win new repeat customers by separating yourself from the rest of the pack and providing a positive image of your business in the customer’s eyes. Like SouthWest, don’t be afraid to market the fact that you are upping your value as a way to say thank you and paying back for being a repeat customer. I can’t say it enough, when I am presented with great service and good value, I will be back again. When business is slow we can work that much harder at making our regular customers feel even more appreciated. Take the time to send a thank you note, spend another minute asking how they are doing, and make that courtesy call!

G-20 Summit

I have seen a lot of coverage regarding the Pittsburgh economy being much better off than the nations’ as a whole. However what has constantly been missed in such coverage is how our small business community has played a critical role in this achievement.

I see a need for us to platform our entrepreneurial community as the real building blocks of a strong local economy.

Our community utilizes the fundamental and proven entrepreneurial concepts that are rooted in solid and hard won inch by inch and step by step growth that contrasts the hyper fast bubble creating growth that tends to be based on non tangibles as we have seen in the current economic down turn.

With that said, I welcome any ideas on how we can spotlight our community and it’s part in Pittsburgh’s success as well as how we can better show off to the city, nation and world that Pittsburgh has strong but silent entrepreneurial culture here and that we are indeed a critical component to our economic success.

We look to Silicon Valley as the nation’s foremost technology hub, I see Pittsburgh with the possibility of being the nations’ entrepreneurial hub and the upcoming G-20 Summit as a great place to launch this campaign

Join the PBC G20 Summit LinkedIN group at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2059903&trk=hb_side_g

Pittsburgh First!

Pittsburgh First!

(abridged version published by the Post-Gazette on July 3rd,2009)

During this unprecedented economic time we have found that Pittsburgh is far less impacted in a negative manner as most cities in our country. Why? My thought is formulated in several factors. Pittsburgh has rebuilt it self post steel industry times but has done so in a slow and conservative manner, we rebuilt a foundation of diverse business markets that are stable and of “real” assets and services. The national and global market crashes are primarily due to inflated businesses that hedged their success and growth via non tangible assets and projections of growth. Pittsburgh has built its economy on the opposite. Thus we enjoy the hard earned reward of a much more stable local economy. Our housing market stayed reasonable, our local businesses stayed fixed on hard products and services which kept to our city’s history of hard work and hands on business models, not vapor ware business concepts or the next big thing idea which produces nothing but somehow obtains large influxes of investor monies. We learned form the .com boom and bust. We learned from the lack of diversification and technology advancement from the steel industry failure.

Now what we have to promise ourselves is to help each other succeed. We have some amazing small businesses that are some of the most under valued gems in their industry. They are our neighbors, the entrepreneurs that have put it all on the line and are growing their businesses via hard work and ethical values.

I have heard and seen first hand national and global businesses being picked over local businesses providing the same products and services right here in our on back yard. This is not just a shame but a huge negative impact to our local economy. We all need to look at home first when looking for new vendors, new products and services. As a business community let’s help each other succeed by giving business to our neighbor before looking outside of our region. We deserve this of each other as we have done business the right way instead of what we are seeing across the nation and world.

Pittsburgh first needs to be how we think as by helping each other succeed we will continue to grow as a local economy and compound our on continued success!

Why Pittsburgh’s small business community is so different than most cities.

When first exploring my own entrepreneurial start, the very first thing I discovered about Pittsburgh was that it had a well kept secret. That secret was that it has an amazing entrepreneurial community that runs deep to this city’s core.

The biggest question though is why does this community seem to be almost invisible to the local and national audience? I truly believe Pittsburgh is one of the most entrepreneur friendly cities in the nation and with out a doubt one of the most entrepreneurial minded citizenship of any city in the country. Yet, this is not published or celebrated much at all.

Further more I have experienced first hand how amazingly helpful local entrepreneurs are to each other. This community truly enjoys helping their fellow neighbors start businesses through providing hard learned advice and mentorship. I have yet to meet a business owner in Pittsburgh that will not take time out of their hectic day to lend advice or to point another in the right direction. This is unique to this city found in its roots as a blue collar, hard working, close nit; we are in this together culture.

I often think about the need for Pittsburgh to publicize this incredible strength and even more so as the national economy is in such distress while Pittsburgh is not untouched by these times, we do see a far less impact here, without doubt due to our entrepreneurial community creating a foundation of strong businesses with “real” balance sheets based on solid and tangible products and services.

Keep it going Pittsburgh!

The Current National Economy and Small Businesses

The local and national media are reporting of the doom and gloom of the economy every day. They are shouting that the sky is falling; the free market concept is on the edge of a cliff! Now for a bit of a refresher on what a free market economy is really about. It is about ingenuity, the sprit and ambition of entrepreneurism, innovation and creativity.

One fact that always remains constant is that when one market is faltering another is growing fruitful with new opportunities. What the media seems to forget is that America is based on the ambition of entrepreneurism and is seeded with freedom.

Once Pittsburgh was global steel and manufacturing leader, today it is a leader in healthcare, technology and financial services. That change reflects how a city can reinvent itself out of changes in market conditions.

Small businesses if managed with creativity and flexibility can also survive through market corrections and trends. The key is to always have a long term plan that takes in account for all possible risks to the business. Pro-actively plan for those risks and by doing so you will manage them instead of reacting to them. Flexibility is the key to survival! Never be afraid to change your business to better mirror the market conditions and your customers needs. Adapting and changing will promote steady growth and success.

I am always reminded of an entrepreneur who bought as many used cars as he could during WWII. Post the war, the car manufacturers had to retool their factories to again produce civilian vehicles, during this time the used car market was in high demand with a very low supply. Our soldiers came back home with years of military pay in their pockets and all wanted cars! He looked into the future and saw a product that would become sparse, invested in it and them was rewarded handsomely for his insight, planning and risk. After new cars started pouring into the market he then invested his profits into land that he bet on as to be valuable commercial development prospects as the post war economy was beginning to flourish. He again was right. The story shows how forward planning and flexibility will pay dividends!

So the best way to face an economy that is trending in a negative direction is to not ring your hands with fear but to sit down and look for the opportunities, retool, reinvent, and move forward with a plan!