NEWS

Suggestions for the Entrepreneurial CEO - Chairman Emeritus’ Corner  11/18/2009

By Gordon Carton, Chairman Emeritus
Suggestions for the Entrepreneurial CEO

I have some suggestions (a few of many) for the entrepreneurial C.E.O., which, although not necessarily original, are certainly memorable from a lifetime of experience.

•  Let your employees in on things. Build on your employees’ willingness to know and to help. Ask for ideas! Hold frequent group meetings. Share your ideas and goals and ask for their opinions. Let them feel they work with you rather than for you.

•  Know your numbers! Develop a set of performance benchmarks of business activity. Financial performance is reported monthly, quarterly, or annually and it is always late. Your daily performance benchmarks should tell you what happened yesterday in all key areas of your company.

•  Plan, plan, plan. A business that has a plan is in a better position to achieve its goals and grow healthy. Distribute this wisdom! Share your vision! Develop action items! Assign them to people, and hold them accountable! Remember a plan is not a thing! It is a process!

•  Use your best salesperson — YOU! You should spend 25% of your time in the field, cementing relationships with customers, suppliers, researching, and generating new ideas.

•  Know your sales from your marketing! One is the continual application of ideas and the other, the development of a strategy. Don’t cheat yourself into thinking one is the other. You must fund both.

•  The value of an educated customer! Holding seminars at your location can be a great way to establish closer contact with your customers. It’s selling, but it doesn’t come across that way.