National Federation of Independent Business’s Optimism Index made a small but notable gain, settling at 93.8 for December. Business optimism increased four times since September, ending 2011 on an up note. Read the complete article here.
mepainter
Charles Lindemuth, painter, illustrator, innovator and entrepreneur visits Getting Down to Business® and talks about how he makes a living as a fine arts painter. Moving from canvas and brush to a digital art form was a natural step for Charles. Listen as he talks about that process and some of his creations such as “mepainter.”
Business Risk Management
Chis Pobieglo, business insurance expert with Business Insurance Associates, is joined by his business partner and wife Angie to talk about the “Risk of Serving.” That’s right, the local board you voluntary serve can cause you financial distress. Find out more as Chris and Angie talk about Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance.
Small-Business Confidence Rises for Third Consecutive Month
Dave discusses the latest “Optimism Index” which was up 1.8 point in November, settling at a still weak 92.0, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). Read the complete article.
The Journey of Publishing
Kelly Fisher– attorney, author and publisher– visits Dave on this program. Listen as Kelly discusses how he came to write his new book A Clueless Man’s Guide to Relationships. The story doesn’t end there. The easy part was writing the book; creating a great end product and introducing it to the world takes more effort. Kelly takes us through his journey.
Business Risk Management
Listen as Chris Poblieglo, insurance expert, talks about Fidelity Bonds. Find out much, much more about this potential business risk and a solution. Visit Business Insurance Associates’ website - a must link for business risk management information.
A business incubator called VETransfer provides free mentoring and facilities to military veterans who start their own businesses. The program is funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs and has a waiting list for their services. Listen as Dave discusses the WSJ article.
SBA 504 Loan Program
When you need to get a job done right, the correct tool works best. Listen as Barbara Gill, VP & Senior Loan officer with Evergreen Business Capital, describes the SBA 504 loan program. If your business needs a new location, land, buildings or even leasehold improvements, financing with the 504 program maybe the right tool for you.
Go it Alone
Listen as Geoff Burch discusses the bargaining process and its potential negative impact in sales. Chapter 17 of Irresistible Persuasion provides great advice.
Even with 14 million people unemployed, 40% of small businesses complain about the dearth of qualified workers. Listen as Dave talks about a pressing problem for employers. Read complete article at the Wall Street Journal.
Credit & Business Lending
Dave’s guest is Bill Cessnun, VP Commercial Loan Officer with Northrim Bank– a Alaskan community bank. Listen as Bill talks about making a credit decision during the business lending process. Bill provides great information to Dave and his listeners.
Go it Alone
Alice in Wonderland meets a Cheshire Cat at the beginning of her journey. Listen as Geoff Burch explains how “measuring success” ties in to Alice’s journey. Intrigued? Listen to the show!
September was our final issue ofBusiness/News & Views®-- but don’t worry! We have a great new eNewsletter venture for next month. Read all about it in Dave Weatherholt’s editorial, “Last Issue of Business/ News & Views.”
Then read Dave’s Economic News Summary (although you probably won’t enjoy his conclusions, it’s important for every business to understand the direction our economy is heading). Regain some of your optimism with Amanda Cullen’s marketing article, “Be Good, Businesses” and out IT article about stubborn PC problems you can fix.
I’m tired of dour economic news, and I bet you are too. My latest Business/News & Views® article, Wealth Creation the American Way, starts out as a book review for An Empire of Wealth and ends by championing the American way of getting things done. If we follow America’s founding principles, we can put this down economy behind us!
Small-Business Owners Registering Vote of ‘No Confidence’ in the Federal Government
Bill Dunkelberg, economist says, “Between the deluge of new regulations and a Washington policy agenda that is largely ignorant of Main Street needs, stubbornly low consumer spending, and grave concern among small firms about the federal budget, there is not much to be optimistic about as a small-business owner.” Listen to the Getting Down to Business analysis.
Starting a restaurant with Crush Wine Bistro & Cellar
Chris Pobieglo sitting in for Dave talks with Anchorage entrepreneur Chad Culley one of the founders of Crush Wine Bistro & Cellar talks about starting a restaurant. Listen as Chad talks about employees, team building, customers, the economy, and what wakes him up at 3:00 am. For more information go to www.crushak.com
Go it Alone
Listen as Geoff Burch, bestselling author in business discusses the “Show Business” element in sales from his latest book Irresistible Persuasion.
Contractors Survey: New EPA Rule to Increase Costs
Home-renovation businesses expect a federal ruling proposed last month to increase operating costs and dampen sales, according to a recently released survey. This survey is a great example of government regulation impacting small business. Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal blog.
>Entrepreneur takes a leap of faith
What is an entrepreneur? If you said a person who assembles the factors of production, raises capital, organizes management, makes policy decisions, and reaps the gains of success or the losses of failure, you would be correct. The short answer is anyone who risks everything to start a business. Steve Volz, of Alaska Search Marketing, left a good job with a steady paycheck and benefits to pursue the dream of owning his own business. Listen as Steve tells the story of how he took a “leap of faith.”
Marketing Matters
Does your business use email marketing as part of its marketing plan? Amanda Cullen of Zoo in a Jungle Marketing provides good reasons why you should and “how to do it right.”
Two crucial forms of bank lending that remained stubbornly weak are finally showing signs of life, another indicator that the credit crisis is on the mend. This uptick could help businesses expand and reduce unemployment listen to the summary. Read the full article: “Uptick in Loans Could Aid Business.”
A Wild Ride
An entrepreneur is a person who wants to change the future. Change involves more than talk. The vision must be followed by action. Following that vision is a great risk. There is the risk of failure, a damaged reputation, the loss of time and money. Listen as Dave describes what it took to follow his vision of a professional football team, Alaska Wild, in Anchorage. Contact Dave at david@WaConsult.com.
Dave Weatherholt starts off this Getting Down to Business with social-networking sites that link entrepreneurs to pools of money. Security & Exchange Commission (SEC) considers allowing equity stakes on crowd-fund sites. This could be a great source of funding for small businesses, says Dave.
Outcast Productions
Kimberley Gray and Elisa Hitchcock met 14 years ago working on murder mystery dinners and started Outcast Productions, LLC. Today, their part-time business with expanded services is thriving. Listen and learn from their business story.
Go it Alone
Geoff Burch is in rare form on his “Go It Alone” segment. Listen as Geoff gives business advice to Kimberley & Elisa with great wit and witticism guaranteed to make you laugh.
Executive Director of the Food Bank of Alaska Susannah Morgan joins “Getting Down to Business” with David Weatherholt. Learn about Susannah’s journey and about how she came to be involved in hunger issues. Susannah has an MBA from Boston University and reveals the business model of the Food Bank of Alaska.
In the news, learn about the controversial ways one can use to finance a business using a 401(k). Love it or hate it, it’s important information to know.
David Weatherholt has a tasty show for his listeners as he talks the restaurant business with Chef Sal Addonisio, Executive Chef of Sal’s New York Grill and Catering. Chef Sal is a seasoned restauranteur and has lately expanded his catering business, saying his favorite thing about catering, “Is seeing people eating my food, the smiles and head nods while they are enjoying that – working in a restaurant you just don’t get that.” This “Getting Down to Business” is valuable for all aspiring restaurant owners.
Marketing expert Amanda Cullen, president of Zoo in a Jungle Marketing, joins the show to explain Facebook advertising. She answers the questions, “Should you advertise on Facebook?” and “How do you do it?” If you’ve been thinking about advertising on Facebook, you don’t want to miss this segment!
This optimism index measures 10 components ranging from increasing hiring, inventories and capital outlays to earnings trends. The data has been collected on a quarterly basis since 1973, becoming a monthly survey in 1986– making this an extremely reliable measure and record of the state of our small business community. In the 1980-82 recession periods, the Index was below 90 in only one quarter, registering the lowest reading ever at 80.1 during the second quarter of 1980. The latest reading from December 2010 was 92.6, a drop from November’s 93.2. “This marks the 36th month of recessionary levels. Only once in that period did the Index get above 93 [i.e. November] and has been below 90 for 26 months.”Our business community is mired in pessimism as never before.
But don’t be too dismayed! In the article, I provide inspiration from the life of George Washington and how we Americans have a little Washington in each of us.
This “Getting Down to Business,” is devoted to The Entrepreneur, and David is joined by real-life entrepreneur, Kelsey Gray of Azimuth Adventure Photography. Kelsey also wrote the only book on rock climbing in Alaska, titled, appropriately enough, Alaska Rock Climbing Guide. Get inspired and learn a few things as you meet Kelsey, hear his story and how his father started him on the path of entrepreneurialism.
Later in the show, get an Alaska economics update with Dan Robinson, Senior Economist with the McDowell Group. Uncertainty abounds, and Dan and Dave discuss how to handle it.
We all have heard that, as small business owners, we are all sales people. This is no doubt a fact when owning and operating a small business. As with any operational function, there should be some type of process or step-by-step way of doing it.
Following a process, with repetition and practice, has been proven to contribute to a positive outcome. Yes, you guessed it! There is a process to selling – known as the sales cycle.
David Weatherholt explores what it takes to be a young entrepreneur in this entertaining and educational “Getting Down to Business.” Young Grace Higgins became an entrepreneur by raising, showing and selling a pig for 4-H. Along with her cousin Hannah Hutchison, she set out to make a profit by controlling costs, properly caring for her pig and soliciting sponsors. David Weatherholt can attest to Grace’s natural sales ability, as she convinced him to sponsor her. Grace’s father Dale also joins the show to provide moral support and some math help.
Amanda Cullen, president of Zoo in a Jungle Marketing, takes up the conversation with marketing advice for farms and agriculture businesses. She advises farms to keep their marketing “creative and fun,” with tips on how to start.
The title “Be the Best” seems a little underwhelming when you really consider its true meaning. This series has focused on the processes that a company striving to reach the top must have. These processes are important, and we’ve talked about the different steps needed to make a process into an active improvement plan.
David Weatherholt interviews Owen Mandanas, DDS about creating a great smile and the business of dentistry. Owen is passionate about dentistry and running a successful business. Learn how she does it and what advice she has to share.
David takes a look at some economic indicators for small businesses- showing, among other things, that small businesses are lowering their prices and feeling slightly more optimistic. It’s not resoundingly good news, but listen to the show for David’s full analysis.
Later in the show, our favorite Englishman, Geoff Burch, joins us with his segment “Go it Alone.” He has some great sales advice for entrepreneurs. Remember, Geoff has a new book out, Irresistible Persuasion.
Continuing my series on being a Peerless Competitor, I emphasize creating effective processes as necessary to attain the number one place in your field. I follow the paths of John D. Rockefeller and the Green Bay Packers and how their experiences applies to your business today. You have to get down to the basics before you can soar to the top. I write:
“‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is a dollar.’ The goal of every business is to earn them. Most business people focus on the dollar and either forget or don’t realize what a successful collection process means.”
David Weatherholt is back with other great authors for the September 2010 issue of Business/News & Views®. David’s economic summary warns that this is the “Weakest Recovery Since the Great Depression,” but Amanda Cullen tries to make the best of the news by giving small businesses advice on “Marketing Upsides in a Down Economy.”
Read about becoming number one in your field - and how this requires you to get back to basics in David’s article “Be the Best III.” He tells some great stories about business leaders and sports teams to really drive home his point.
Finally, learn some tips for making “A Better Home Office.”
David Weatherholt brings a news story that serves as a legal cautionary tale for startup businesses in the process of choosing a new business name. On a more entertaining note, David describes the characteristics of entrepreneurs and how to avoid some communication pitfalls.
Blair Singer, of Sales Partners Anchorage and author of many books including Little Voice Mastery joins David on the show along with his partner Ryan Hodges. Blair’s book addresses “What you mentally need to win the battle between your ears.” He talks about failures and how they are the most valuable learning experiences.
post Sept. 16 David Weatherholt gives a small business news update and brings Tony Hopfinger to the show. Tony is the Editor and Cofounder of the Alaska Dispatch. This publication is entirely online and provides “news and voices from the last frontier.”
In titling the show “The Trailblazer,” David wants to highlight an aspect of entrepreneurialism. Entrepreneurs see new ways to do things and sometimes invent entirely new products and processes – blazing trails, so to speak.
To be the best at your level is a unique achievement requiring above average commitment and performance. A business that stands alone at the top of its market earns above average profits, making it something of value and worth the extra effort needed to become a “Peerless Competitor.” I have identified seven steps to become the best in your field.
Recognize the Process
Formalize the Process
Simplify the Process
Repeat the Process
Flawless implementation
Measurable results
Continuous improvement
Read my articles, Be the Best and Be the Best II to learn how to organize your business structure to be able to accommodate success. Then use this solid base to grow. My seven steps are based on my Peerless Competitor pyramid:
After his economic news update, David brings Don Cleary Jr. on the show. Don is Vice President of Business Lending for Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union. They discuss the difference between banks and credit unions – the major difference being that credit unions are not-for-profit. Credit unions are increasingly being opened to the public, and they can be a valuable source of funding for small business.
Sales expert and London resident Geoff Burch joins the show to engage listeners and promote his new book Irresistible Persuasion. Dave has been spreading the word in Anchorage about Geoff’s promise of showing readers “The secret way to get a ‘yes’ every time.”
Interestingly, the book has been selling well in the United States – better than in the U.K. Geoff posits that his country-men just aren’t as hungry for success. His book gets to the heart of sales, persuasion. Geoff says, “You can trace every business failure to someone failing to persuade somebody else to do something.”
August’s issue of Business/News & Views® brings articles on marketing war, conflicting economic news, being a peerless competitor and some internet tips and tricks. Here’s a quick summary of each article:
Amanda Cullen asserts that “Marketing isn’t war on your customers,” and tells small businesses why using warlike metaphors could cut into their profits. She suggests more realistic alternatives and shows recent, real-life examples.
There’s “Good News & Bad News” on the economic recovery front. David Weatherholt analyzes the data and gives the economy a D+ grade for August. Read the article to find out why.
David weighs in again with his article “Be the Best II.” If you stand alone at the top of your market, your business will enjoy above average profits and regard.
Finally, “Protect Yourself with a Strong Password” gives you all the advice you need to keep your password-protected data safe.
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Charles Lindemuth, painter, illustrator, innovator and entrepreneur visits Getting Down to Business® and talks about how he makes a living as a fine arts painter. Moving from canvas and brush to a digital art form was a natural step for Charles. Listen as he talks about that process and some of his creations such as “mepainter.”
Chis Pobieglo, business insurance expert with Business Insurance Associates, is joined by his business partner and wife Angie to talk about the “Risk of Serving.” That’s right, the local board you voluntary serve can cause you financial distress. Find out more as Chris and Angie talk about Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance.
I’m tired of dour economic news, and I bet you are too. My latest Business/News & Views® article, 
An entrepreneur is a person who wants to change the future. Change involves more than talk. The vision must be followed by action. Following that vision is a great risk. There is the risk of failure, a damaged reputation, the loss of time and money. Listen as Dave describes what it took to follow his vision of a professional football team, Alaska Wild, in Anchorage. Contact Dave at 
