Archive for December, 2007

Dec292007

Am I Un-American? - You Decide 2008

American Flag

Is outsourcing un-American?

 

I can’t tell you how often I have been told that I am being “un-American” for advocating outsourcing as a means of dramatically increasing productivity and profitability.  I advocate this, in particular, for American entrepreneurs and small business owners.  So, going into 2008, I would like to set the record straight (look for my rap album to hit stores near you soon).

 

I have been charged with several counts of being “un-American”:

 

Count 1: Helping American business owners become more competitive on a national and global scale

 

Count 2: Bridging the information and cultural gap between the U.S. and rising global economic powers

 

Count 3: Encouraging American small businesses to outsource to American freelance service providers as well as to foreign companies

 

Count 4: Showing Amercian small businesses how to hire moreAmerican workers by utilizing outsourcing

 

Count 5: Helping American small business owners and entrepreneurs to spend more time with their families and enjoy life more

Gavel

 

To all of the above counts on the charge of being “Un-American” - I plead GUILTY AS CHARGED.

 

There it is.  I had admitted my guilt in helping American businesses and doing my part to ensure that America continues to be a global economic power to that future generations of Americans can live progressively higher standards of living (I do want my kids to be better off than me - guilty again).

 

Now, let’s start 2008 off on the right foot…by being thankful that America is one of the best places to do business and, that 2008 is the best year in the history of mankind to be in business.

 

To all of my readers: I pledge to bring you more thought provoking and hard-hitting information than ever before in 2008.  So, strap yourselves in…it’s going to be a wild ride!

 

  

Roller Coaster

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 29, 2007
in offshoring and outsourcing
. 1 Comment
Dec212007

Running a Space Age Business

George Jetson I am not…at least not yet.  Although having the life of a space-age family has kind of been a vision of mine since I was a kid.  Speaking of that, aren’t we supposed to be going to and fro in flying cars by now?  Anyway, the reason I am bringing this up is that I was just recently struck with the thought of how running a business today would indeed seem ’spage-age’ to someone transported to 2007 from, say 1957.

Jetson1

 A prime example of what I am talking about was when, a few months back, I was able to run my business completely from by Blackberry for over a week, with no hiccups.  The week of August 27, 2008, I was at the MAGIC Marketplace in Las Vegas.  MAGIC s not a David Copperfield show; it is the biggest apparel industry trade show in the U.S.  I was there with my friend, Chris Reynolds, helping him with his revolutionary sportswear company Flip Your Lid Wear (BTW, if you have not yet seen Flip Your Lid Wear, check out www.FlipYourLidWear.com).

At the show in Las Vegas, I had everything I needed in the palm of my hand.  I was able to talk to my team in India in real time, via instant messenger.  I was able to get all of the pertinent email informaiton I needed in real time and I was able to field all neccessay phone calls.  The darndest thing happend during this time, though.  Even though I had the ability to do real time business at my fingertips, I hardly had to answer an email, had about 5 calls all week (that I had to answer, at least) and just had brief chats with my team in India for about 25 mintues total throughout the day.

Now, this didn’t quite hit me until I was getting ready to go home and I was giving my wife an update on my ETA.  As I looked at my phone’s call log to pull up her number, I noticed that I had not even filled the que with recent phone calls. 

 I am going to drop the other shoe on you now.  I want to tell you what made this ‘miracle’ of my trip possible.  One word: outsourcing.  Let me tell you how amazing it is to know that your business can function without your own personal daily micromanaging and input.  All of the problems that I thought could occur simply did not.  Sure, there were a few minor corrections that needed my attention when I got back home, but nothing that stopped or even slowed the business down.

Here is a summary of what happened when I was gone:

  • Marketing (lead generation, direct mail, e-marketing, etc) initiatives were all being administered with care
  • Sales (closing prospects, working existing accounts) did just fine - we even picked up some new business
  • Operations (processing, administration, payroll) didn’t miss a beat

rosie 1

Sure, George Jetson might have had a talking robot (and a talking dog), but he still had to go to Spacely Sprockets and push that button all day long.  For those of you leery about delegating any of your business functions to anyone outside, I encourage you to give just one small sliver of some of your mundane business tasks over to outsourcing.  I promise you’ll get to enjoy the Las Vegas sunshine a little bit more!

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 21, 2007
in Management and outsourcing
. 1 Comment
Dec182007

Tuesday Top 5: 5 Reasons to Get a Virtual Assistant

If anybody is not yet familiar with ‘virtual assistants’, I’ll brief you, but the term is pretty much self-explanatory. A virtual assistant is simply someone that does administrative (and higher level) tasks for you from a remote location. Since technology has lowered the costs of computers, broadband Internet and other communication mediums, having somebody in a remote location doing all the little stuff that you don’t want to do can be a huge relief . In his book The Four Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss talks about how he and other “New Rich” use virtual assistants and similar means of outsourcing mundane tasks to enable them to live the lifestyles of their choosing.

This post is specifically for those of you that are not yet utilizing virtual assistants. If you are a flying solo as an entrepreneur or service professional, you will be intrigued – I promise. Without further adieu, I am going to dig a little deeper and share with you the Top 5 Reasons You Need To Get a Virtual Assistant – and NOW.

1. You will be forced to analyze which things you do that are really important

Getting a virtual assistant will force you to break down some of the tasks you do on a regular basis and chop them down into bite sized chunks. You see, virtual assistants are not magic assistants. Therefore, you need to pour out all of the things that are just in your head out onto paper. The process of doing this will help you learn how much time you spend on things you could be having someone else do. They key to having some sanity as a business owner is, at some point, being able to take a break and watch the fruits of your labor grow.

You may be in trouble (or paradise, depending upon which was you look at it) if you discover that you can have virtual assistants take over your entire business day. If this is the case, fear not. You just have that much more upside potential to keep adding value to your customers.

2. You will have a fresh perspective on how you organize yourself and your workload

Once you begin working with your virtual assistant, and you realize which activities you do that are core to your business, you will be much more organized and focused. Trust me, almost every business owner feels bogged down in the minutiae at given times throughout the day. When you can clear some of the crap out of your day, your mind feels liberated and your productive juices get flowing. You will be free to concentrate your energy on the most important things

Achtung! (that means ‘Warning’ for those of you non-German speakers and non U2 fans). Don’t use a virtual assistant as a means of letting yourself wander into the entrepreneurial abyss. Make sure you get crystal clear about your goals and objectives before delegating like crazy.

3. You can work from anywhere – and so can they

If you hire an assistant and they have to come into your office, chances are you are going to have to show up a great deal of the time to manage that person. This further chains you to your office and doesn’t allow you to spend as much discretionary time as you want (read: out getting more business or having fun – or both). When you set up for a virtual assistant, you are focused on ‘deliverables’, the end product. Does it really matter to you that the person works in their underwear with a Bloody Mary in their hand at 5:30 a.m.? Well, it might, but let’s just assume you aren’t going to know either way. You just want the work done, and done well, on time and on budget.

It helps if your virtual assistant is friendly, I’ll give you that.

To put it as simply as I can, virtual assistants give you more flexibility to get the things you want done. Flexibility is one of the most necessary attributes of being successful in business – and in life.

4. Your communication skills will increase exponentially

Most people are bad communicators. Gasp! Yes, I said it. We all need to work on our communication skills. Most problems in the world are problems of information and communication, or some combination of the two. How many people do you know cannot put clear and concise thoughts into an email? How many people do you know that cannot leave enough of a voice mail to get what they want? (think: leaving a call back number, reason for calling, etc).

When you work with a virtual assistant, your communication skills will rocket to the next level in a heart-beat. You will be amazed at how quickly and easily you will be able to put your thoughts and words into actions that get results. Working with a virtual assistant will help you utilize email, voice mail, telephone, instant messenger and collaboration software (Go To My PC, WebEx, etc). more effectively.

5. You will realize how fast you can leverage your virtual assistant to help you GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Surprise, surprise! Yep, growing your business is perhaps the best benefit of having a virtual assistant. You see, once you learn how to break down tasks and processes to have someone do remotely, typically for lower cost than “in-house” (think avoiding payroll taxes and extra office space and equipment versus offshore – though offshore works very well also), you will see unlimited growth opportunities for your business. You can leverage a virtual army, if you want, to vault you into the top tax bracket.

So, what are you waiting for? To get started finding a virtual assistant check out the following sites:

www.elance.com – A great site that connects you with freelance professionals and outsourcing companies globally

www.guru.com – Another great site that that connects you with freelance professionals and outsourcing companies across the world

www.craigslist.org – The biggest and most popular online classified site

I have found great virtual assistants, outsourcing service providers and free lance professionals on all of these sites. Dig in and get going.

Cheers!

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 18, 2007
in offshoring and outsourcing
. 0 Comments
Dec132007

How Flat is Your World?

Disclaimer:
Many of you know that I am a big advocate of outsourcing. Having co-founded an accounting and tax return outsourcing company, I have been known to expound on the virtues of outsourcing for small and medium sized businesses from time to time. If you are a Lou Dobb’s fan, you may want to take a sedative before you read this post.

With 2008 rapidly approaching, I think it is time for every business owner and entrepreneur to take stock of how flat their world is. By ‘flat world’ I am referring to the analogy of Thomas Freidman’s 2004 book, The World is Flat, where he likened the growing inertia of globalization to the world being “flattened”, or shrunk to the point that country borders are less and less relevant through technology and business and commerce freely flow between businesses and individuals across the world.

If you are a business owner, taking stock of how flat your world is could involve asking yourself the following questions:
-What tasks, processes and/or systems am I currently outsourcing?
-If I am not currently, am I moving in this direction quickly?
-How am I leveraging global resources to maximize my profits and boost my productivity?
-Are my competitors beating me because they are better allocating their internal resources?

Answering these questions will help you determine if you are staying in front of the globalization curve or not. If you are behind the curve, the news is good: the time is ripe to jump in.

You might be asking: “What if I am just a single entrepreneur and I don’t have anything to outsource?” My answer to this is simple: everybody has mundane and routine tasks that add little or no value that could be outsourced to free up time and make for a clearer focused business model. Look at things like: scheduling, bill payment, book keeping, order fulfillment, website maintenance, and promotional materials and so on. Just look for a few minutes and you will find an aspect of your business that will benefit from globalization.

Does flattening your world always mean that you are going to outsource to India? In a word; no. In fact, I outsource quite a few of my business processes to freelancers here in the U.S. The flattened world also means making you closer to those across the U.S.
The flatter your world is, the more adaptable you are to change and the more scalable your business is.

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 13, 2007
in Business, Entrepreneurship, offshoring and outsourcing
. 0 Comments
Dec72007

Speed Kills

Stop for a second and ask yourself this question: “How fast am I?”I’m not talking about running the 100 meter dash; let’s leave that to the professional athletes. What I am talking about is speed to market. If you have ever worked at a bigger corporation or even read Business Week on a regular basis (in the politically correct world, ‘time to market’-ttm for short - is the commonly used term), you have heard this expression. But, what does speed to market REALLY mean for entrepreneurs? I think the intuitive answer is usually incomplete.

Think about this scenario: You own a small insurance agency and have a new marketing idea. You came up with this idea on your way to the office one morning after your 3rd cup of coffee. You ponder the implementation as you check your morning email. You run some parts of your idea by the two agents that work for you. They are both excited about the idea and on board to help you implement it. You think about implementation more as you finish your email and further convince yourself it’s a good idea. As lunch approaches, you attack the necessary tasks to keep your existing clients happy and keep new ones in the pipeline. The day ends with you thinking more about the idea as you drive home, but you are interrupted by a cell phone call from your administrative assistant, reminding you of your appointment in the morning.On your way to work the next day, you notice a billboard advertisement from a competitor. Your heart drops in your chest. Your competitor has just rolled out a campaign contains most of the elements that you were considering implementing. You keep driving, wondering when your next big idea will hit you.Speed. It can kill you or help you kill your competitors. He who hesitates is lost.

I have found that most businesses, large and small, take way too much time to market. Whether it’s a new product, a new service or a new marketing initiative, the length of time to market can be directly correlated to dollars lost. I have heard of companies where it can take over two months just to launch a simple direct mail campaign. Ouch. The talent, resources and technology are available in today’s business environment to execute quickly, efficiently and effectively. Time is Money.

For the entrepreneur, speed is one of your biggest assets. Most entrepreneurs operate businesses much smaller than their competitors. In a fight (especially the fight for dollars and market share) if you are smaller than you better be faster.

In the book Developing Products in Half the Time: New Rules, New Tools, by Preston G. Smith and Donald G. Reinertsen, the authors clearly state: “In this era of global competition and accelerating product life cycles, the need to get new products to market faster is more compelling than ever. What was once considered fast development is now commonplace.”


Now, take into perspective that this book was first published in 1991 and revised in 1998. How fast has the business world become since 1998? How much more do you have to be able to bring to the table for your customers and clients now than you did in 1998?Take a moment and do a ‘speed test’ on yourself. Make sure you stretch (your brain that is). Think back at the last three major things you tried to implement in your business or your life.

1. How long did it take you to get it ‘to market’?
2. What slowed it down (or sped it up)?
3. Do you notice any kind of a trend?
4. Could you move faster if you had to?How did you do? Are you an Olympic runner or do you have the speed of a 500 year old turtle on sedatives? If you were honest with yourself, I am willing to bet that you could get a lot faster if you really wanted to. Remember, you can correlate your bank account directly to the speed, efficiency and effectiveness with which you are able to implement your ideas.

Now, you probably won’t hit a home run every time. But, if you are fast, you can correct course quickly and get back on track.

Is speed killing you or are you using speed to kill?

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 7, 2007
in Entrepreneurship and marketing
. 0 Comments
Dec42007

Tuesday Top 5: 5 Books That Need To Be On Every Business Owners Christmas List

Top 5 Books That Need To Be On Every Business Owners Christmas List

For this week’s Top 5, I am giving a run down of books that are an absolute MUST READ for all entrepreneuers and prospective entrepreneurs.

1. The 4 hour Workweek – By Tim Ferriss

This is a book that has the power to shift paradigms like no other I have read in recent year. Tim Ferriss, an Ivy League guy by pedigree, left the corporate world to start his own business. He subsequently developed systems and methodologies that enabled him to automate his business to the point of allowing him to travel the world, do more of what he wants to do and still maintain a profitable business.


Needless to say, given the title of the book, Tim Ferriss generated a lot of controversy with this work. A particular high point of controversy was a debate that he had with Donny Deutsch on the Today Show with Matt Lauer moderating.

Watch the interview here
Click Here

Read this book and have your eyes opened! Check out Tim Ferriss’ blog http://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/.

2. The World is Flat – By Thomas L. Friedman

The World is Flat was first published in 2004. It has been through several updates since then, and all of them add more value to this great work. Friedman gives a great account of the changes that globalization has brought forth in the last 10 years, the catalysts of those changes and how companies and individuals all over the world are benefiting from it. Friedman is also careful to talk about the human factor of globalization; the job losses, income shifts and environmental impact.

For every entrepreneur out there, this book will help you better understand the trends taking place with regard to outsourcing, in-sourcing, supply chaining and a lot of other things that may just be buzzwords to you.

Check out Thomas L Friedman’s website http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/. He has written some other good books as well, such as The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

3. Made to Stick – By Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Made to stick has a lot of great case studies and research that shows what makes good ideas stick. The concepts and research from this book can be used and implemented in your business and in other aspects of your life.


Check out the made to stick blog at: http://www.madetostick.com/blog/. You will get a lot of great information here.

4. The Age of Turbulence – By Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan’s autobiography, The Age of Turbulence takes the reader through his illustrious career as an economist. From his early days working with the Nixon administration to becoming Federal Reserve Chairman before the 1987 stock market crash to his dealings as Fed Chairman with President George W. Bush, this book contains so much history, insight and information, that I encourage anyone to read it through a second time.

You will learn about a great deal of macroeconomic, political and financial market detail that you would never get from anywhere else, unless you personally know somebody on the inside, like a member of the Fed. The most interesting parts of the book is when Greenspan expounds on his experiences in dealing with the end of the cold war and his inner dealings with each White House administration.

I highly recommend grabbing this book and sitting down for a great look through the eyes of a brilliant economist and politician.

5. No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs– By Dan Kennedy

Admittedly, Dan Kennedy is one of my favorite authors on material for the entrepreneur and small business owner. Dan Kennedy’s writing is very straight forward (hence the ‘No B.S.’ in the title) and easy to read. No B.S. Wealth Attraction will show you how many entrepreneurs limit the wealth they create for themselves by how they think about money.


No B.S. Wealth Attraction is full of practical steps and inspirational analogies and a few stories that will show you that just changing your thoughts and actions can make a huge difference in the amount of wealth you bring into your life.

I encourage everybody to check out Dan Kennedy’s blog: http://www.dankennedy.com/cblog/ and to get on his No B.S. Marketing Newsletter list. This is one newsletter you won’t regret being on!

So, there it is! Grab these books and watch your business and intellect go to the next level.

Published
by
Adam Davis
on December 4, 2007
in Business Books
. 0 Comments