MacStartup

As I have read any number of places most CEOs do not read anything more after they have attained their level of success, but most of their lower ranking personnel ARE trying to learn something new. But what is the one trait that each millionaire has that the rest of the mediocre entrepreneur do NOT have?

if you download this article for free then you might find the answer out, but the REAL question is: what will you do with the info?

So, here’s the article that you can download. Tell me what you think.

You know most of the time we carry around out Daytimer, iPhone or other smartphone, or a PDA that contains our calendar of our many events, but the real crux of the matter is comparing schedules with your spouse, work, clients, or even a community group that you belong to iron out the many details of time and location. The endless emails, phone calls, or text messages to nail down who is available when as well as just getting in contact to discuss with others. But now these problems are greatly reduced with Timebridge.

Timebridge is a web service that allow anyone with a Mac or PC to be able to schedule events with anyone via Timebridge’s “Personal Scheduling Assistant” making it a snap to coordinate scheduling of your events. Because it uses the web and syncs up with your iCal, Outlook, or Google Calendar anytime you enter in a “New Meeting” it sends off the proposed meeting times and to the person(s) to confirm the dates/time and if confirmed it is automatically entered into your iCal/Outlook/Google Calendar for you. If you have a MobileMe account it will automagically show up in your iPhone as well.

Scheduling of all meetings are done via the web interface so you can’t very well enter the data into iCal/Outlook and have it show up via Timebridge with others, but hopefully since they are looking for feedback that they’ll work on an iPhone/smartphone application that will allow you to enter the data remotely and have it show up on both your computer and your iPhone using the same process.

What do you think?

As an entrepreneur you’ll start out owning your own computer to get some of your work done and if you do your business right you’ll grow out of the one computer and into more Information Technology (IT) that will automate more of what you do. But one  aspect that most people do not realize is that while an IT person can help you with the technology, they are sometimes like a hammer, always looking for a nail when you need a screwdrivers instead.

About 70-80% of all IT projects are never on time or on budget because of one factor: business requirements not nailed down!

Hiring a business analyst to take a look at your business processes FIRST will help prevent your business and IT growth from consuming valuable resources that are not critical to what you need to have done. Here’s a little video describing what I’m talking about when you try and describe what you are trying to do.

So, if you need some help with designing an IT project as your company grows, check out Bridging the Gap company for more info about how to leverage the technology to build your business.

Business Week has an article from some of the major players, such as CISCO, about how to start up a business during an economic downturn. In the article “Startups in a Downturn” you’ll hear the discussions about what to do. It’s not impossible, but if you’re successful you’ll be better prepared than those that succeed during the good times and have not seen a downturn in their business. What are some of the reasons why startups succeed during a economic downturns?

• Prices fall, so it’s cheaper to purchase things
• Less competition because others may have folded
• Companies are tougher because they learned during the tough times
• Business models are worked on and tweaked earlier than better times.

So, check out the article for more info and keep plugging away at what you’re doing, don’t quit.

As Mitch Kapor states  ”If a product meets an unmet need, it doesn’t matter if the economy is bad,”

You can also check out this site for more ideas about startups during a downturn.

As one that has read Eli Goldratt’s many books about the Theory of Constraints I was eager to hear what he had to say at Pacific Lutheran University: “A Matter of Choice”  yesterday that we’ve got about  6 weeks before one of the largest economic booms will hit the world market. 

Watch the video of him and read his books:

• The Goal: his first and most famous.
• Critical Chain
• It’s Not Luck

And his others.

If you are starting your own business, these are absolutely the best to learn from as they discuss how to keep your costs down and your productivity up.

And if you want to know how best to keep the economy going, read about the different forms of government: The Government

For those of us that have been in the IT field for any number of years, it is not unheard of that computer technology fails us at certain points in our lives. As an Entrepreneur, your business will grow and you may or may not need computers to provide more and more help, but the article “Univ of Wisconson CIO discusses IT failures”  helps show where some of the problems lie.

Bottom line: it’s most the “soft” issues of people that is the bottleneck. People do the work and work the problem.

You know, the Japanese think differently than Americans do in how they view business in most cases, they think long term. They think in terms of cycles, there will be up cycles and there will be down cycles, one after the other like clockwork. And because of this viewpoint in most cases they have a better approach to handling crises. What is this approach?

When times are very good, they don’t go overboard and over spend what they are earning, they spend to PREPARE for the next downturn. They’re conservative in spending. They don’t over hire because of the growing economy, they don’t create new and bloated system, processes, and personnel and new spending with the intent of following America’s constant boom and bust cycles. Or as Warren Buffet states, you don’t follow the crowd, you do what the crowd is NOT doing and  you’ll make it. You spend only enough to improve your competitive position during the next downturn cycle because just like now, everyone is “selling” or getting out of things that are not critical to their business. 

While this recession will force our economy and companies to get back to the “critical few” and drop the “trivial many,” much like a heart attach telling you need to eat healthy and exercise, it remains to be seen if Americans will take heed to time honored advice and spend only what is necessary during times of plenty, or will we be duped once again but the drunkenness of easy profits and money.

So, think long term, what do you intend to do AFTER this recession? Knowing what you are to do when things are good will better prepare you for something like today.

We’ll get through this for sure, but we need to learn lessons of the past so that we don’t put ourselves in a pinch again.

We can’t spend out way into prosperity, someone will have to pay for this trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Do you need help in saving time and money in your small business processes, let me know.