Entrepreneurship

Ask the Chief: an entrepreneur’s approach to social media

Eric Saretsky2 Comments

As my wife and ISIC (Immediate Superior In Command), reminds me, opining, responding to, or worse, instigating a diatribe via social media is bad for business. In the last century, word of mouth, newspaper, radio and television advertising, storefronts and mail order were means to get products and services to consumers. Developing repeat business from clients was more easily obtained and was often a local market. It is almost exclusively through social media or websites that consumers are aware of an entrepreneur’s product or service today. Social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Meta (Google), Tik-Tok or distributors such as Amazon are the primary means to advertise an entrepreneur’s wares. Inciting negative publicity can diminish a product or service’s availability on these platforms. (These companies also depend on consumers to regularly return to their platforms for profitability.)

As a result, when an inflammatory post, or even something innocuous that may appeal to an entrepreneur’s morals and personal beliefs, social media can quickly become a murky pool in which the original intent or comment is lost. As we have seen frequently, companies such as Facebook or Twitter can limit exposure for certain content. It might be a battle of wills with one claiming censorship and the other inflammatory rhetoric, but small businesses cannot afford loss of market share. This is the unfortunate reality today that we be friendly toward all.

Legal tender has no morals.

A veteran and an entrepreneur

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A beautiful afternoon in San Diego seemed like a nice opportunity to enjoy a cigar and watch birds from my front patio. These are some of the perks of being self- employed.

A young guy – anyone appearing under 45 is looking young – approached me with a flyer advertising his real estate business. We got to talking about cigars, work, dogs, and the benefits of being self-employed. He, too, is a Navy veteran who worked in electronics engineering, deciding there was a better way to earn a living in San Diego. He started buying and fixing up houses and then went the additional step of becoming a realtor.

As a video interview via Facebook, with actor Morgan Freeman, also a veteran, affirmed, we limit ourselves and make excuses. He absolutely confirmed the American Dream is possible if one is willing to put in the work.

Spread the word on a Ballcap

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New item

For more than 25 years, I wore a command ballcap as a working uniform item with dungarees and BDUs. And kept the caps as mementos long after retiring. I hardly go anywhere without wearing one. And they always start a conversation with another veteran.

Do you have a favorite that you wear still? A company in the Carolinas makes embroidered shirts for my employees, and last month, I contracted them to create these to spread the word about my blog dedicated to veterans and families of vets.

Ask the Chief: a necessary skill for the self-employed

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A skill that anyone with something to protect, whether consumer or a business owner, is developing shrewd thinking. Most understand that identity or intellectual property theft occurs through phishing in email and hidden code in compromised websites. However, old fashioned schemes to separate the unwary from their income, disguised as personal or business “services”, are no less successful a lot of the time.

An emailed newsletter from the California Office of Attorney General this week reported charges being filed against a man who defrauded veterans’ families with false college tuition waivers, for which he charged $500, netting him about $500,000. But this is far from the only scam that victimizes veteran and non-veteran alike. This afternoon, my mom n’ pop small business received a fairly sophisticated mailing (arriving by Postal Service) that wanted to assist my business with filing a California form – for $150 – that I have routinely filed, free of charge, with the state. This scam sends an official-looking form warning of the consequences of not filing required documentation, and is populated with the publicly-available information on your business, to confuse a novice business owner. Of course, this scammer assumes that small business people would react without having the experience to know that these things do not require a third-party’s assistance. But then the scammer knows that he or she only needs a few among thousands of new business owners to send them the fee, to enrich themselves.

The State of California’s OAG has been prosecuting perpetrators of this sort of scam for more than a decade. Apparently, this is some sort of mass mailing. However, any criminal who intends to defraud a military veteran should be forewarned. We have all been subject to the just-off-base” hucksters who have sold our young military men and women everything from revolving contract gym memberships, multi-level marketing schemes, herbal remedies, and vehicle-service contracts. A year or more into our enlistment, we all become a bit more shrewd in discerning what we are getting for our hard-earned pay. Most veterans have various sage wisdom (or cynicism) that all come down to “I may have been born at night, but not last night. Get lost!”

Keeping your identity, finances, and personal information secure, and especially when you are in business for yourself (and cannot afford Wall Street attorneys). It is a full-time occupation. While I would toss this obvious nonsense in the trash, I will instead forward this to the Attorney General as the website indicated. I’m perhaps too cynical about taxes, fees, and business. While this is California, I will imagine that there are thousand of other mailings in mailboxes or en route at this time..

Ask the Chief: the little things

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A young man’s resolve -this morning encouraged me greatly. He had arrived early to take his certification exams – which, among his peers, is sufficiently remarkable to be noteworthy. (As a military retiree, I am accustomed to the military tradition of being fifteen minutes early to something as being “on time”.) He unfortunately only possessed two of the four items needed to register. (One was an stamped self-addressed envelope to mail his exam results.) Apparently, his program administrator had not furnished him a specific document to register for the State exam. He was embarrassed and disappointed but he made calls to his administrator – at 7 AM – to obtain it. They hand-delivered the needed form to the test site at an agreed time so as not to reschedule his exam. Once he was registered, I joked with him that after that particular exercise, any nerves while taking the exam would no longer pose him a problem. Though he will not know it for a few days, he passed both exams and earned his certification. I have some confidence that obstacles would, in future, be opportunities for him to overcome.

For many, the statutory regulations that govern these certification exams including a certain proficiency in English comprehension, are not obstacles. For others, lacking the self-discipline to thoroughly prepare, to read the pre-registration letters, emails, text messages or phone calls, and to arrive for a state exam in a timely manner, make a successful outcome difficult. From a veteran’s perspective, the Admiral quoted here, is correct.

If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

William H. McRaven, USN (Ret)

Starting a career as an entrepreneur, a veteran may have only her life experience, wits, and an idea. Skills as active listening, experience of mentoring by experienced professionals and preparing thoroughly for most expected conditions, are basics. Just as in the military, in business, there are certain things that require the entrepreneur to think on one’s feet. And an idea of a product or service, is only as profitable as its feasibility in the market. A veteran should be willing to get advice, seek expertise, and commit or redeploy in another product or service or market.

You can’t change the world alone – you will need some help – and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.

William H. McRaven, USN (Ret)

A successful business has efficient operations and administration. Much of this is beyond the expertise of a new entrepreneur. Beyond computers and productivity software, calendars, and government licenses, fees and regulatory paperwork, engaging the services of bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants, and specialized expertise may be required to maintain efficiency and regulatory compliance. In this area, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has offices in most communities to provide guidance to help entrepreneurs succeed.

Just as in the military, the failure to know statutory regulations, compliance – licensing, taxes, and record-keeping- is not often an acceptable excuse for non-performance. This means that businesses often are the clients of other businesses. Just as one’s own enterprise needs to have exceptional customer service with clients, the entrepreneurs engaged to provide service or products to your business needs to have the same standards. The business which loses clients to communication, operations, or staffing issues that financially impact their clients will not be in business for long. Friends, colleagues, good will, and a disciplined leader will make your destination attainable.

value of “customer experience”

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A website I found when writing this post, makes my point, “We believe in the business of experience”. Successful business, or more specifically, very successful businesses, value their customers. As a California small business in two niche markets, one of my enterprises serves a specific market of business to business services, and the other has a broader client base. Yet both sets of customers are looking for the same things from me. Competence, reliability, competitive pricing, and an excellent customer experience.

The value of serving a niche market is the relatively few competitors given the specialization required to service it. The challenge of servicing a niche market is both to continue to treat a client as though they had numerous choices for your service. And a niche market can become financially-stressed by bureaucracy as well as tough economic times as has occurred during this Pandemic. Our operations must maintain customer trust. In contrast, some companies fail to recognize changing needs of customers and the value of the customer experience. Montgomery Wards, Sears, and even General Motors stumbled and failed. Only GM returned to profitability.

Our business was built initially by personal recommendation to our first clients. It initially expanded due reputation of its founders and partners- consultants. However, the success and continued growth for these enterprises have been due largely to the customer experience. Having a willingness to listen to the needs of the client. Using current media and technical means to provide a quality first impression to attract customers. Influence the customer to not want to go elsewhere for service.

Reputation

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Honor, Courage, and Commitment

Remarkable contributions are typically spawned by a passionate commitment to transcendent values such as beauty, truth, wisdom, justice, charity, fidelity, joy, courage and honor.

Gary Hamel, businessman b. 1954

In the Navy, Sailors are taught the value of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. These are not simply cherished values, they are the foundation of what will ultimately make an individual successful in Life. A person learns that Honor – both that which you earn personally and that which you hold in esteem, is fundamental to how one builds trust with others. In a biography, The Luckiest Man (Mark Salter), of the late Senator John McCain, he maintained his sense of honor as a POW in refusing special considerations during captivity (his late grandfather and father (during Vietnam) were Navy Flag officers). His Senate career, in pushing normalization of relations with Vietnam, on legislation over campaign financing, foreign relations and military matters, won praise even from the opposition party (including President Obama). A second tenet, courage, is not simply the quality of the fiercest warrior. Courage is being resolute, despite opposition in one’s moral convictions. Taking a stand in support of just principles (the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights), or doing the right thing in spite of opposition. When the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, commander’s crew were succumbing to COVID, and the Navy was slow to act, his convictions to get attention for his crew resulted in his reassignment (public opinion may have moderated the Pentagon’s decision-making). Think of the last year when police officers were collectively criticized and even attacked for the actions of a minority of officers nationally; some officers when ordered to confront protesters took a conciliatory knee to ease tensions. And commitment? A resolute, unwavering effort to follow through on a promise, mission, or task, in spite of difficulties or opposition. The example and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who was in the forefront leading the way to obtain civil rights legislation, and at the cost of his life, exemplifies this.

building reputation

Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers.

Elizabeth Arden, businesswoman, d. 1966 (brainyquote)

Adding to these last, fidelity, passion for truth, and enjoying service to the public, build an enterprise’s reputation. In competition for business success, reputation attracts employees and customers. Successful companies such as Starbucks showcase this in their philosophy, and in their employees whether in Seoul, Korea or Charleston, South Carolina. Using the example of military basic training which I received in the 1970s, recruits are first screened to meet at a minimum certain qualities. Whether Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force or Coast Guard, recruit training shapes individuals into a team, and instill traits that distinguish military servicemembers from civilians. As they say in the Marines, you do not ‘join’ the Marines, they make Marines of those who thrive in the rigor of training, have the caliber of mental and physical stamina of warriors, and embrace the values that will make each an invaluable member of a “unit”.

fragile and easily damaged

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.

Warren Buffett

Reputation, even when built through such a “crucible”, is fragile. It can easily be lost or damaged through public misperception, and errors in judgement from management or employees. In the last decade, the perception that businesses – or their employees – disparage lifestyle choices of a segment of the consumer public, whether or not . However, in the cases of Chik Fil -A restaurants, Hobby Lobby stores, a bakery in Colorado, and most recently, individuals whose participation in political violence (storming of the Congress), reputations were damaged as well as expense to defend these in court. In the latter, the “insurrectionists”, even if painted with a broad brush, when identified as employees or representatives of agencies or businesses, had to be swiftly terminated, and have public apologies issued by their employers. While some patronize a business because of some affinity, the businesses will eventually suffer from the scrutiny. Reputation is an asset for a business. As Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics magnate of the last century said, “Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers.”

Ask the Chief: repurposed

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I have a sign in our home office that says “I didn’t retire. I’m just under new management.”

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul

General Douglas MacArthur

“Retirement” once conjured up for me images of spending leisurely weeks on Hawaiian beaches, visiting foreign lands (this time with my spouse), or perhaps, spending time at a “vacation” home. However, the idea of having little else than “leisure” to occupy my time, just bothered me. I then wonder if others feel that being “unproductive”, that is “retired”, is shared by others? Changing careers frequently is a reality for many Millennials, Gen-X and now, Gen-Z workers. But a pandemic struck in early 2019 and “quarantine fatigue” is causing additional waves of infections and Governments to shut down commerce. The world has created a semi-retired class of people who do not have jobs to return or fill. Restaurants and many venues where large groups of customers formerly gathered have either folded or are barely surviving on government assistance. For those who “retired” in 2019, with few places in the world now COVID-free and open to visitors, there is little opportunity (or desire) to travel. However, with millions of people in need, experienced medical staff are welcome volunteers to man COVID testing and to administering vaccinations. For many others, the need is still present, but the delivery is changing. Teachers, small business coaches and consultants use web conferencing and social media to offer training. New opportunities in critical niche markets that are underserved are being filled by enterprising people. Elsewhere, retired military members become veteran advocates. Military-trained technicians start businesses to serve other businesses. I am certainly not unusual in starting a third career that interests me. I am not retired but instead “repurposed”.

Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren’t going to get rid of me that way.

Betty White

finger business

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“After each customer interaction, notice if you gave them a “happy to see you” kind of experience.”

Marilyn Suttle, author, via Goodreads

Personal values, such as integrity, honesty, and likeability, I learned from my upbringing. Motivation, commitment, and organization, came from a career in the Navy. Problem-solving and customer relations are the result of a lifetime in various occupations including the aforementioned Navy, sales, and some self-employment ventures, two that were particularly unsuccessful and my present venture in partnership with my wife. After nearly forty years at work, each of us has found the perfect venture – and, a perk, we love working together. When my spouse was ready to leave the day-to-day management of a Nursing Education program, she found the certification side calling. In this niche market, students have graduated a post-secondary healthcare school and now require them to meet State public health criteria through examination and skills evaluation to receive licensing.

And that is happening in spite of, and to some extent, because of, the 2020 Pandemic. Despite candidate health surveys, frequent sanitization, applying social distancing spacing, and following revised assessment criteria, the key to a successful enterprise continues to be good customer relations.

And as the coronavirus still drives strong demand for healthcare workers, servicing federal or State-mandated fingerprinting for school enrollees is strong. Though we are primarily focused with healthcare, other occupations are regulated by State or Federal mandate to submit fingerprints. Clearance by the DOJ and /or the FBI is necessary in finance, social work, daycare providers and for teachers. With the closure of many competitors for months due to California pandemic prevention measures, our ability as a mobile service during the year – to go to the client’s site – has been one of the only servicers in my region. And our business is assisted by social media, word -of-mouth referrals, and when the cell phone rings, answering it as often as possible, is key to setting appointments.

Maintaining a good product, providing excellent service, and rolling (pardon the pun) out to a client, often female, as a mom n’ pop service team, have only served to increase customer referrals. I can attest to the success of Marilyn Suttle‘s advice, to give the customer a “happy to see you” experience.