If you think the economy is skidding towards the blink, think again and meet Rowan and Trevor - a lemonade stand sister-brother team that will rock your taste buds, bring joy to your heart and remind your soul to awaken to the creative gifts the Divine embedded in your DNA.
Here is the version on Vimeo:
And here is the same clip but on Google Video:
“Be ye like children …” Perhaps this Biblical Wisdom Is Reminder to Tap Into One’s Entrepreneurial Inner-Child And Profit Joyfully by Serving the Rest of Us …
“When I Work, I Play. When I Play, I Work.” - Pablo Picasso
“Go Play Hard at Work And Have a Good Time!” - Kasha Scott
Tiz the season and lemonade stands are in full swing around these summer New England parts, specifically Ridgefield Connecticut and Main Street.
I was first hit with this lemonade season reminder a couple of weeks back when walking Kasha around the neighborhood.
At the commencement of our walk, we first started to spy various hand-drawn flyers posted on the light poles with scotch tape promoting neighborhood lemonade availability.
And then we soon started to hear the audio ripples of lemonade barker-cries via a chorus of children off in the distant background, “Lemonade. Lemonade! Get Your Ice Cold Lemonade. Lemonade. Ice Cold Lemonade Here. Lemonade.”
All of which was quickly followed by a boy on a bicycle who approached us while engaged in the lemonade sales promotion route for his sister’s lemonade enterprise, whom Kasha and I would soon go on to meet and interview but more on that later.
Okay, I know many high powered business types and serious economists who might shrug, as well as everyday folk, and say, “Yea, so what! What’s the point of reflecting on the economics of local lemonade entrepreneurs?”
To which I think I have a good reply: First in consideration of the big media backdrop of economic headlines of bad news; and second, with regards to Karl Marx and how all the collectivists economists have got it fundamentally wrong and how the lemonade entrepreneurs have got it fundamentally right.
But first, the media headlines.
Big media is in the business of big headlines and they do it well. After all, if they can’t grab us, they can’t hold our attention or sell us on their agenda(s) let alone promote the agendas of the people who buy their advertising space.
And it seems to me that currently big media would have us believe in all their negative economic press that they get paid to sell. Not that we do not love the press but with business models like, “If it bleeds, it leads” how can we blame them for selling us negativity when they know full well we only buy what grabs our attention, including killer negative headlines that cut through the clutter in supermarket checkout lines.
So while the press and ourselves might be to blame for buying in on the collective consciousness of economic woes, part of this post is about the other economic story not being told. Well actually the story is being told and shared but not in headlines or by big media, at least not yet. Bare with me, and you’ll see my point and why lemonade entrepreneurs hold the keys to understanding long term economic successes.
A couple weeks after Kasha and I encountered our first neighborhood lemonade entrepreneurs, I was driving through Main Street Ridgefield and came across another lemonade stand and snapped the pics you see here. In this case, these entrepreneurs were closed for business so I did not get to interview them or sample their brew(s), but the spirit of their humble endeavor was yet another reminder of how the keys to our fundamental economic success in this country lie among the spirit of budding lemonade entrepreneurs.
Now I’ve traveled the world and while not hit every corner, I have yet to see an entrepreneurial front-yard lemonade stand in any other country. Sure, I’ve seen young people selling crafts, fruits, performing for coins, but somehow the young lemonade entrepreneur and their humble neighborhood lemonade stand seems uniquely red-white-n-blue and I’m not positive why but I have some theories.
When growing up as a teenager in Argentina as a Rotary exchange student in 1978, I always seemed to win when playing monopoly with my new Argentinean friends. At the time they would often chide me and prod me with, “Oh! You Capitalists! You Yankees! You Gringos! You are all the same! You take everything! You win at all costs! You yada yada …”
But it was also during those loved South American times that I enjoyed many a debate about the evils and merits of Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, and other ism’s. But somehow that despite the debates, I knew that they too were capitalists at heart no matter what their official ism was that they subscribed to publicly. My capitalistic proof of innate free-trade was the flourishing of black markets in every corner of the globe that I’ve ever traveled to. Which supports my theory: That left alone, all humans will trade in a manner that is win-win for them and those they trade with, but the key point is “left alone.”
Governments are necessary and good governments that serve the people and individual freedoms first with state second are an amazing blessing. Yet governments often get over-run by special interests, collectivists, Leninists, and others who quietely delight in chipping away at personal freedoms by advocating more tariffs, trade barriers, licensing, laws, obfuscation of agendas, etc. - all of which is fertilizer for big business and big corruption.
The lemonade entrepreneur is a noble example of the balance of supply and demand when left alone - no town permits, no labor laws, no minimum wages, no sales tax, no use taxes, no mandatory state licensing, certification or registration, etc.
“Be ye like little children” is Biblical wisdom that should perhaps be extended to commercial affairs ala the example of seasonal lemonade entrepreneurs.
Consider Adam Smith and his groundbreaking 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, that cemented the principles of laissez-faire and the “invisible hand” of balance naturally occurring from supply and demand cycles that find equilibrium over time.
These same laissez-faire economic principles were also confirmed in more modern times by Milton Friedman’s groundbreaking book, Freedom to Choose - a book I would argue that anybody running for any office (e.g., state, local, federal and/or condo board) should be required to read and take a standarized test to confirm they can pass and exhibit a certain mastery of the message but I jest (although, I’m serious if you are).
Even today in 2008, those economies with the least amount of government intervention are the ones on the fast track. But back to my friendly conversations with Argentineans about economic policies, merits and pitfalls of isms.
All economic models are based on cycles - boom and bust, followed by more boom and bust, etc. It is the length of cycles which most isms and economists disagree with - e.g., some say these economic cycles are every 5-10 years, others say every 35 years, and others say every 50 or 75 years. Some also argue (i.e., the collectivists) that it is the role of government to “soften” these cycles so they are not so “forceful” on the masses, ala rationale for recent Federal Reserve to bailout Bear Stearns - what a joke and a true tragedy.
Yet my favorite debate about economic cycles took place in college during a Western Civ class when we were asked to read Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto and support or defend his economic ideas.
Karl had relatively good reasoning and essentially said, “Hey look. Each society pretty much boils down to two primary classes - the haves and the have-nots - and with each turn of the economic cycles of bust periods, some of the haves lose their economic power and become members of the have-nots. Thus it is only a matter of time, a number of economic cycles, that will ultimately reduce all the haves to have-nots, so let’s cut to the chase, save everybody the drama of enduring all these awful cycles and just get there (a flat collectivist society that is ruled by the state). After all, in the end there will only be one class, so let’s get there now and save everybody the grief and plan accordingly.”
Sounds like a great concept but for one big commercial blunder on Mr. Marx’s reasoning, and that is, he totally forgot and left out the concept of entrepreneurs - that enterprising group that somehow seems to spring forth despite the odds and replinshes the class of haves with every economic down turn.
America has lived an economic history of ups and downs. And, we know in this country that with every bust cycle, there are those who find ways to make it work and often go on to great fortune by finding opportunity when others see only failure.
Our culture is also one of “Yankee ingenuity” whereby we tend to invent things for ourselves that solve our own problems, even if less than perfect; but then continue to perfect said inventions and spin out improved inventions for sale to neighbors and thereby give birth to new markets.
Consider the Lightning Rod invented by Benjamin Franklin or Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin. In both cases, these men sought to solve a problem and were looking for solutions. In the process of inventing their own solutions, they both went on to give birth to new markets and efficiencies - all of which had positive economic impacts on the greatest good for all of us. Note: some economic historians will even argue that Whitney’s Cotton Gin was the birth of the American industrialized revolution — and yet his path of intellectual property rights via his Cotton Gin patent and the realities of enforcing said patent are chapters for another post.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that there isn’t great innovation coming from other parts of the world, certainly there is. Even in governmental entrepreneurship, perhaps England’s greatest gift to the world was the invention of the Magna Carta, which was essentially a balancing of power between Nobles and the Crown, and became the genesis for many of our principles today re:rights to private property, habeas corpus, etc.
Back to my walk with Kasha.
So right around the time I enjoyed my interview with the local lemonade entrepreneurs, I also read the May 2008 edition of Imprimis - see www.Hillsdale.edu. They have over 1.6 million monthly readers and their publication is free to subscribe to, and each month is very thought provoking so yes, I would encourage you to get your free copies.
In the May edition they featured adapted text from a January speech at Hillsdale College given by Mr. Patrick Toomey, President of the Club for Growth. The title of this article was, “The Greatest Story Never Told: Today’s Economy in Perspective.”
In that article, some of what Mr. Toomey stated included, “Over the last 25 years, more wealth has been created, more people have been lifted out of poverty, standards of living have been elevated more dramatically, and the quality and length of the life have improved, more than ever before in the recorded history.”
That’s a mighty tall claim but consider some of the stats he provided to support his premise:
Our nation’s total economic output in 1982 was $5.1 trillion; In 2007 it was $11.3 trillion (in real 2000 dollars)
Per capita economic output in 1982 was $22,400; In 2007 it was $37,807 (in real 2000 dollars)
Unemployment in the 1970s was nearly seven percent; During the last decade it has remained below five percent
The service sector was $1 trillion in 1982; It was $5.5 trillion in 2006
In 2007, US factories produced more than in any previous year in our history
The Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1980 was at 825; Today (despite its ups and downs) remains above 11,000
In 1983, 19 percent of households owned stocks; In 2005 50% were investors
In 1989 median family net worth was $69,000; In 2004 it was $93,000
And regarding American families living below the official poverty line in the 1970s - Less than 40 percent had a car, almost none had color televisions, and air conditioning was almost unheard of; In 2004, 46 percent owned their own homes, 75% owned a car (indeed 30 percent owned two or more cars), 97 percent had color TVs, 67% had air conditioning
With respect to technology - In 1975 there were 9.8 million cable TV subscribers and in 2006 there were 65 million; In 1985 there were 2.1 million personal computers and in 2007 there was 243 million; In 1985 there were 340 cell phone subscribers and 243 million in 2007
On health fronts - In 1970 infant mortality was 20 deaths per 1000 people and in 2002 it was seven deaths per 1000; In 1980 life expectancy was 74 years, today it is 78
And this growth has been occurring around the globe - between 1999 and 2004 some 135 million people emerged from destitution and there are twice as many countries with fast-growing economies as there were in 1980
In the end, Mr. Toomey credits these massive economic growths from several factors, namely - economic freedoms, the Recovery Tax Act of 1981 which reduced marginal tax rate from 70 percent to 28%, and a series of major deregulation and broad expansion of trade.
These are some of the innate principles American Lemonade Entrepreneurs know instinctively, but they probably won’t be making any big headlines in traditional media, yet perhaps they will make it BIG around the Blogosphere.
Lemonade Here. Get Your Lemonade. 50 Cents. Sugar Free. Tax Free. And Always Served with a Smile.
Viva the entrepreneurs who progress to make life better for all of us and keep Karl rolling in his grave!
Imagine starting out with two employees who laugh at your dreams and targeted projections and quit two months later.
This is what Masayoshi Son, founder of The Softbank Corporation, experienced. And note, it has been reported that he currently earns some $200 million per day from his Internet investments such as Yahoo!, E*Trade, and Ziff-Davis, just to name a few.
When queried about his path as if it had all been a successive string of successes, he replied, “I’ve made a lot of moves. I have lots of scars and am ashamed and shy when I look back.”
He went on to explain that most warriors have battle scars that remind them of pains experienced. It is often these reminders that become the greatest teachers, helping us prepare more intensely for the next round.
Masayoshi’s formula for success is tried and true: “Strongly believe in big dreams and have a strategy.”
And yet the numbers associated with his dream were huge, so I asked him, “Many goal setting experts state that we should set goals that are believable, so how does one set large goals and make them believable to the mind?”
He replied, “Start with the big picture and break it down from there. I figured out what it would take to be number one in the industry and worked backwards.”
In the end, perhaps entrepreneurial success is best defined by ongoing efforts and not merely by the results. Thus to paraphrase a Chinese proverb, “It matters not what path a person is on in life. What matters is their commitment to the path.”
Wally Amos, aka Famous Amos as in the Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie founder, was perhaps the most colorful entrepreneur I’ve met to date.
I remember him on stage at the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs beaming with tons of energy, flashing a huge warm smile, and wearing this outrageously colored, fully embroidered, denim-jacket glittering with patterns of sequins that were all things cookies and chocolate chip cookies at that. It was one of those jackets that you’d expect to find in a Broadway play like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and not your typical three piece navy or gray pinstriped suit jacket worn by most panelists.
Before Wally started to give his presentation, he turned to the audience and explained the honor and joy he had in wearing his embroidered cookie jacket — because his wife had made it for him.
Wally went on to explain how important it is to have family support when embarking on entrepreneurial paths and his jacket clearly indicated his family’s enthusiastic support.
Before starting his cookie business, Wally was in the music business out in California as an A&R guy. At the time, he could not read or write and had less than a skyrocketing career, although he did represent some famous talents - e.g., Helen Reddy.
Apparently, whenever Wally called on clients and prospects, he would always bring along some homemade chocolate chip cookies to leave behind with his appointments. It was his grandmother’s recipe and Wally loved to share the cookies he baked with everybody in the business.
Prospects would teasingly say, “Hey Wally. Sorry I can’t use your services, but those cookies - they’re awesome. You should really think about opening a business selling them. They’re incredible and any chance I can get some more next time you swing through the area? And, I’ll pay!”
And so with the support of family and friends (e.g., Helen Reddy as early financial investor), Wally launched into the cookie business.
The one sad note about Wally’s story was with respect to intellectual property rights. Turns out when Wally sold his business, unwittingly to him, he also lost the right to use his own surname to promote any new food products. I recall a court battle and being appalled that his counsel did not give him better advice when he signed the sell agreement but I digress.
In the end, Wally conveyed encouragement to follow one’s passions, gain the trust of family stakeholders and friends, then go for it. And if lucky enough to collect any awards along the way, not to hesitate to wear true colors - on sleeves, back, front pockets, chest, etc. - viva the Chocolate Chip Cookie DreamCoats!
Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited, addressed an intimate audience of 50 or so after his auditorium award presentation to The Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs.
Part way into this intimate Q&A, albeit with with some mild frustration, Les stopped fielding questions and proclaimed, “As many look at my global chain of stores, corporate jet, power, wealth, I’ve sensed students today implying ‘How do I get where you’ve gotten and get what you have?’ and I must admit, I do not have the answers. I can’t tell you how to do it.”
He went on to say that he could tell us only that he followed his love for retail. From his first store in Columbus, Ohio, he loved putting the key in the door first thing in the morning and turning the lock. He loved putting the key in the door at the end of the night after sweeping and locking up. “I’m still the world’s best men’s sweater buyer,” he chuckled.
In all, he communicated that chasing the trappings of success had nothing to do with his path.
His focus was on his passion.
Les came from humble origins, with parents who weathered the depression and honored the security of postal work. So, when he received a call early in his career from a leading New York retail chain magnet, his father was in total disbelief of his son’s actions.
Apparently, this magnet invited Les to New York, all expenses paid, and offered him a staggering salary and wild perks like a penthouse apartment.
Les responded, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this is why you brought me to New York. I’m not interested in a job,” and proceeded to leave. When he got off the elevator, he called his father and recounted the experience.
“Now you get right back up there and tell the man you’re sorry, of course you’ll take his offer,” suggested his father.
About a year later, Les felt compelled to call the magnet and inquire as to why he had been inspired to make such a generous offer in the first place.
“Well Les, you might be a terrific retailer, but in your whole life you’ll never have more than fifteen stores without my capital.”
Les hung up the phone and was beside himself.
“Fifteen stores,” he thought. “I never thought I’d have more than six.”
This retail magnet had in effect raised the bar of possibilities for Les’s vision for himself. At last count, Les’ chain includes well over 3000 stores.
Nolan Bushnel was the founder of Atari - the wildly famous video game developers from the 1970s and early 1980s perhaps best known for their block buster games like Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, plus others. Mr. Bushnel is a serial entrepreneur and is also the founder of Pizza Time Theaters, Inc. (aka Chucky Cheese) among other enterprises.
It was a springtime afternoon while sitting in a packed auditorium during an Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs presentation that I first heard Mr. Bushnel speak about how to truly start a business.
Okay, so you want to start a business. Great. Here’s how you do it.
First you call your smartest accounting friend and say, Hey Joe, gotta great idea for a business that I want to share with you and a couple other prospective key people. Can you come over this Saturday morning at my place around 10AM and can you bring some donuts?
Then you call your smartest marketing friend, Hey Sharon, gotta great idea for a business that I want to share with you and a couple other prospective key people. Can you come over this Saturday morning around 10AM and can you bring some orange juice?
Then you call your smartest human resource friend, Hey Steve, gotta great idea for a business that I want to share with you and a couple other prospective key people. Can you come over this Saturday morning around 10AM and can you bring some coffee?
Then you call your smartest engineering friend, Hey Tim, gotta great idea … and can you bring some napkins and paper plates?
Then you call your smartest finance friend, Hey Linda, gotta great idea … and can you bring some cranberry juice and a couple bottles of water?
So then on Saturday morning all your smart friends show up and say, Okay Nolan. So what’s your big idea of this new business?
Now here’s the funny part, you can say almost anything like “A new car wash.”
And your smart friends will likely boo you and say stuff like, “You got us out of the house for this - a car wash, you gotta be kidding us. We thought you had a really great idea.”
But now here’s the killer part - you turn to your smart friends and say, “Come on, we’re all smart people, we like and respect each other, so what ideas do you have for starting a business.”
Worse case scenario, you got a free breakfast and planted some seeds with your friends. Best case scenario, the group brainstorms an option to pursue and away you go!
Later that evening I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Bushnel a follow-up question regarding business and action plans resulting from a Saturday morning planning session. I forgot his exact words but it went something like this - “Chuck - this is why you have your engineering friend bring the napkins. The action plan has to fit on one napkin otherwise the business will never get off the ground. You gotta keep it simple. Your marketing friends will go through too many napkins, your accounting friends will complain that the napkins don’t have ruled lines, but your engineering friends, they can help you produce a napkin of action steps that keeps your new team focused.”
The scene was a nomination committee for the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs sitting around a large oval conference table at Babson College in 1981.
The committee was comprised of a mixed sort of twelve-plus voting attendees, most of whom were either business school professors, college administrators, and/or Academy stakeholders (e.g., representatives from Business Week, Fortune Magazine, Wall Street Journal). And then there were the two students - one undergraduate, the other a graduate - who sat at the table with equal voting consideration.
In front of us was a list, a rather long list at that, of world class people who were to be considered for the following year’s induction into the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs.
As way of background, The Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs is the world’s first entrepreneurship hall-of-fame established in 1978 to annually honor and recognize the top three or four “entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly to the development of free enterprise throughout the world.”
And since this is a blog I’ll jump to the point.
Jim Henson’s name came up (i.e., famed muppeteer responsible for Big Bird, Ms. Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch, etc.) and a robust discussion ensued.
Was Jim an artist, an entertainer, a puppet guy, and could he really be considered an entrepreneur?
On one hand I was stunned that the question was even raised and on the table. Up to then, I had innately supported the idea that entrepreneurs were born and came in all shapes, sizes, colors, disciplines, backgrounds, ages, etc. Furthermore, I had a special appreciation for those creative entertainment-entrepreneurs who cut new grounds in memorable and exciting ways.
Yet part of the echoes I recall from that meeting stirred with voices of contradictory spirit like, “Come on … This is business and we are a business school … Business sticks to the facts and has to keep it black lined, balance sheet approved, otherwise we’re sunk - how could we follow the slippery slope of muppeteers as entrepreneurship … Okay, sure he runs a production company, has licensing deals and other business dealings, but he hangs with the likes of Ms. Piggy … PLEASE! … We have lots of other serious names to consider so can we continue … Besides real entrepreneurs are the likes of Ben Franklin and Andrew Carnegie - legendary people who kick it big in marketplace …”
In the end, that nomination committee helped set the pace for the three entrepreneurs who were ultimately officially voted into the Academy for 1982, including: Wally Amos - The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Corporation; William Norris - Control Data Corporation; and Carl Sontheimer - Cuisinarts, Inc.
A lot has changed since 1981 and somewhere over the years I once heard the definition of an artist as someone who makes the unknown knowable - e.g., takes that which was previously unseen and makes it see-able.
Like the artist, I think this vision also applies to entrepreneurs in that they provide a service where one was missing or void, they bring higher quality deliverables at more efficient pricing to markets that were unknown before, etc.
During the next couple of days in this blog, I will share reflections of various world class entrepreneurs I met along the years of participating in front rows with the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs.
Okay, I won’t name drop but tidbits forthcoming in this blog include entrepreneurs like the founders of Federal Express, H&R Block, Peoples Express, Famous Amos Cookies, Winnebago Industries, Atari and more
This audio interview is approximately 16 minutes in length and the file is a 3.7 meg mp3 file
About the Interview
Here we feature Zuhair Suidan as he presents Success as a Consultant - Making the Break from Employee to Consultant and going from W2’s to 1099’s
Special thanks to Mike Eastland from ESBN Radio for permission to use this audio interview which first aired on his program.
Zuhair talks about what it takes to be a consultant, the 8 P’s to Consulting Success (e.g., preparation, phantasize, plan, productize offerings, promote, perform, persist) and suggests all of us, even those employed, to think of ourselves as consultants and ask, “Would my current boss/team/stakeholders hire me again?”
This audio interview is approximately 18 minutes in length and the file is a 4.5 meg mp3 file
About the Interview
Here we talk with Dr. Janet Kiehl - an expert in career dynamics and organizational change.
This interview covers the spectrum of finding meaningful work - not just another job, but work that truly sustains for life and taps the soul.
Dr. Kiehl starts by recounting her own career transition from an unhappy software engineer to leading a 750 person team which went from zero to 1/2 billion in sales within twelve months, during a time period which also required each of her team members to change at their fundamental levels.
Janet then moves on to explain why over 70 percent of today’s workplace is in dislocation and is status-ficing - a word that captures those who are just hanging on - not quite satisfied but stuck with the status quo.
The journey of Dani is a wonderful illustration of a Research Scientist who migtrates thru the complex issues of career dynamics and how she moved through her fears, her cultural biases, abandoned her skill investments, and how Dani ultimately found the courage to find meaningful work.
Janet also touches on the power of groups, group dynamics and why just reading a book is not enough to ignite a chain reaction for meaningful career change.
This audio interview is approximately 15 minutes in length and the file is a 3.7 meg mp3 file
Note the sound is a tad scratchy for the first minute or two but soon levels out - we apologize and as fyi, have since upgraded to a digital hybrid/broadcast radio host for better sound quality
About the Interview
Here we talk with Julie Jansen - a speaker, coach, trainer and consultant who helps individuals and organizations reach their fullest potential in today’s chaotic business world.
Julie is also the author of:
I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This: A Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work
You Want Me to Work With Who? Eleven Keys to a Stress-Free, Satisfying and Successful Worklife…No Matter Who You Work With … which will go on sale February 28, 2006.
Some of the Themes Discussed with Julie Include:
Believe you can work and be happy - you don’t have to get everything from your work but if you get a lot that makes a huge difference in your life and with those who love you…
Case study of woman going from IT Project Management to mobile dog grooming business, selling franchises, making more money than ever, and never looking back …
Are you bored or stuck ..??.. even when you like where you work, get paid well, enjoy the people, the perks, have flex time, etc., sometimes it is not the pain that forces us to move on but the lack of challenging work …
You don’t have to get everything from your work … just figure out what would make you happier than you are now - e.g., more travel, more interesting people, different challenges to solve, etc., then go for the next level …
Resume writing can be fun … and put your creative energy into them even though they require a sense of formulaic structure, you can still capture your essence in unique, captivating ways …
Note the sound is a tad scratchy for the first minute or two but soon levels out - we apologize and as fyi, have since upgraded to a digital hybrid/broadcast radio host for better sound quality 
