by Alan Weiss, Ph.D., from Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo©
Reprinted with permission. Featured Image from Bentley Quarterly Magazine used with permission.

Let’s take a break from elections and protests and disease this week and talk about business. Small business, in particular, the kind that some of you are running and the kind we all interact with daily.

Small businesses create ALL the net new jobs in the US annually, because large businesses reduce employment through retirement, technology, layoffs, and so forth. It’s a vital aspect of the economy.

But hard work isn’t sufficient. You have to be innovative.

The coffee shop I visit makes most of its money in the evening when it becomes a martini bar. The inside and outside tables are (socially-distanced) filled. Steve, the owner, told me that he may close up the morning coffee shop aspect because he can’t make money that way with current restrictions, but he can at night. Steve readily changes a $100 bill for you.

Meanwhile, the local Dunkin’ Donuts owner won’t take anything larger than a $20 bill because he’s afraid of counterfeits. The most counterfeited bill in the US IS the twenty. 

Steve wants to be of help, the Dunkin’ Donuts owner just wants to be careful, although his choice is ridiculous. He’s afraid and doesn’t trust his customers.

The guy who owns the local men’s clothing store told me to let him know whenever I wanted to come in and he’d make sure to open for me, even if it’s not during his regular hours.

A local restaurant owner has such rude hostesses, that I’ve walked out twice instead of being seated, and when I told the owner he said, “It’s tough to find good help.”

Frankly, I don’t believe that, but even so, put in some tough work, otherwise, you’ll find yourself immiserated, not because of any crisis, but because you’re practicing dumb-ass, stupid management. “Small business” doesn’t have to mean “small minds.”

Growing through Times of Change

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Why has NatureCoaster has Reprinted this Article?

I have been subscribing to and reading Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo© for more years than I can remember on my entrepreneurial journey. His writing style, humor, and no-nonsense approach to life on life’s terms as an entrepreneur have helped me to know that I bring value to most every equation.

I highly recommend that you add Alan’s tools to your kit to help you start thriving in life. You can learn more about him below.

When you are ready, get his books and read them, invest in his paid workshops and watch your dreams come true. — Diane

About Alan Weiss, Ph.D.

His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on the boards of directors of the Trinity Repertory Company, a Tony-Award-winning New England regional theater, Festival Ballet, and chaired the Newport International Film Festival.

His speaking typically includes 20 keynotes a year at major conferences, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, Boston College, Tufts, St. John’s, the University of Illinois, the Institute of Management Studies, and the University of Georgia Graduate School of Business. He has held an appointment as adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rhode Island where he taught courses on advanced management and consulting skills to MBA and PhD candidates. He once held the record for selling out the highest priced workshop (on entrepreneurialism) in the then-21-year history of New York City’s Learning Annex. His Ph.D. is in psychology. He has served on the Board of Governors of Harvard University’s Center for Mental Health and the Media.

He is an inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame® and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1% of professional speakers in the world. He has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of only two people in history holding both those designations.

His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 25th year and fifth edition. His newest is Threescore and More: Applying the Assets of Maturity, Wisdom, and Experience for Personal and Professional Success (Routledge, 2018). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.

He is interviewed and quoted frequently in the media. His career has taken him to 60 countries and 49 states. (He is afraid to go to North Dakota.) Success Magazine cited him in an editorial devoted to his work as “a worldwide expert in executive education.“ The New York Post called him “one of the most highly regarded independent consultants in America.“ He is the winner of the prestigious Axiem Award for Excellence in Audio Presentation.

He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, the first-ever for a non-journalist, and one of only seven awarded in the 65-year history of the association. He holds an annual Thought Leadership Conference which draws world famous experts as speakers. In 2014 his featured speaker was political pundit, best-selling author, and media favorite James Carville, in 2015 Master of Influence Robert Cialdini, and in 2016 Dan Gilbert of Harvard who has over 15 million views of his TED talk on happiness.

He has coached former candidates for Miss Rhode Island/Miss America in interviewing skills. He once appeared on the popular American TV game show Jeopardy, where he lost badly in the first round to a dancing waiter from Iowa.

Alan is married to the lovely Maria for 47 years, and they have two children and twin granddaughters. They reside in East Greenwich, RI with their dogs, Buddy Beagle and Bentley, a white German Shepherd.