"America's Secret Weapon is Entrepreneurs" (Entrepreneurs Organization, EO Accelerator, ATI, and CTAN Co-Host Evening With Jack McDonald)

Four of Austin's top organizations that support the entrepreneurial community (Entrepreneurs Organization, EO Accelerator, ATI, and CTAN) co-hosted an event to bring their members together on Tuesday night. Not even the "Blizzard of 2010" could stop entrepreneurs from showing up to network and listen to local business leader Jack McDonald (it had snowed three inches that day -- A lot by Austin standards, ...... and when it snows in Austin, everything else shuts down) .

I have written about my friend Jack McDonald in the past. Last year he had formed and exploratory committee to look at running for Congress. In the end, he did not run this time around. The chances of his winning as a Democrat in the Republican district (against a well funded incumbent) did not add up.

As a real businessman, he made the informed decision to not make the run (a real politician would have run anyway, wastefully spending $3 million of donor money. A good entrepreneur does not waste cash - A politician will wast money any day of the week).

Jack's talk centered on "How To Grow Your Business In A Tough Economy", something he knows a lot about, having lead a successful public technology company (Perficient, Inc. - PRFT) over the past ten years.

Austin (and Texas) have been fortunate in this recession. We have several companies that are adding jobs (example: entrepreneur Brett Hurt's Bazaarvoice has grown from zero to 400 jobs over the past four years), and the city's young workforce is among the best educated in the world. The diverse and open culture coupled with other positives in the region means we have what it takes to grow. Both individual businesses and Central Texas are poised for expansion in 2010 and beyond.

But Austin cannot be complacent. There is a lot of other cities who are positioning themselves for growth in tech, bio-tech, energy and the other industries. We are not immune to the challenges of the recession or the future and we must continue to take actions to make the region successful. The Austin business community must reinvent to stay ahead of the curve.

McDonald challenged the audience of entrepreneurs not to sit on the sidelines, but to instead be involved in the process. The Austin Chamber of Commerce and other organizations are working on the plans for the future through policy, business recruitment and retention, and other business ecosystem investments. However, the tech entrepreneurial companies are often not at the table, because many of these companies are customer focused (and their customers are around the world, not in Austin). He reminded the crowd that their success is directly tied to the city's future.

He had three pieces of advice on how to survive and grow in any economy:

1. Do not chase "easy revenue". Know who you are and who you want your clients to be. He witnessed may of Perficient's competitors disappear because they chased the Dot-Com economy in the late 1990s.

2. Avoid ego driven expenditures. By keeping fixed costs low, a company can survive the tough times. Too many small businesses obsess over Class A office space (Class B office space is just fine for a growth company!) and other expenses in order to "look bigger". This can be a fast track to going out of business.

3. Be realistic. After the tech crash in 2001 too many entrepreneurs and investors stuck their head in the sand, when they should have moved fast to make changes to get lean.

The end of his talk touched on national politics. The global economy has a lot of competition, and it is not going away. Our federal government must make policy adjustments to keep the country on the right track. The tax code on small businesses is neither effective or fair. Big corporate welfare is not driving job creation. GE, who is not adding jobs pays around 12% in taxes while growth oriented companies pay close to 40%. (Huh? That is nuts. Are you listening in Washington DC?).

America's secret weapon is entrepreneurs. Washington must recognize this and make decisions that encourages capital formation and supports those who start and grow companies. We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and this puts America at a disadvantage.

It is a shame that Jack will not be going to Congress. We need more people in Washington DC and in state governments who are entrepreneurs. Our elected officials are often good people who went from law school to politics without ever having met a payroll, created a job, or developed a product or service. They have no clue about business, but are the ones making the decisions that effect not just Wall Street, but Main Street.

Overall it was a great event, and I would like to thank the four hosting organizations and sponsor, Frost Bank, for making it happen.

I am enjoying my involvement in EO Accelerator, as the organization continues to expose me to great people and educational programs that help me in my own journey as an entrepreneur.

Have A Great Day.

thom

EO Accelerator - Austin Chapter

The Austin Chapter of EO Accelerator is currently looking for a few good members.

Do you, or someone you know, own a business with revenues between $250,000 and $1 million? Are you looking to grow your company to over the $1 million level. Are you seeking other entrepreneurs to learn from and share best-practices?

As an early-stage entrepreneur, you face new challenges every day and at times you probably find yourself wishing you had an instruction manual for your business.

It’s okay. You are not alone. Thousands of successful business owners have been down this winding road or entrepreneurship, and there is a program here in Austin that is designed to help.

Accelerator, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization program, is the catalyst that enables first-stage entrepreneurs to catapult their business to the next level. EO Accelerator's mission is to empower you with the tools you need to grow your business to more than $1 million in sales and provide you with the skills to make yourself a better entrepreneur and leader.

Along with structured educational content focused on the core areas of first-stage businesses, the Accelerator Program affords you the unique experience of learning from and connecting with the world’s most influential entrepreneurs.

For more information, go to the EO Accelerator website, or send me an email and I will put you in touch with the rest of the Austin EO Accelerator team.

Five reasons to join EO Accelerator before the end of the year:

1. December 9th is the next quarterly "Learning Day".

2. Put the membership dues onto your 2009 expenses.

3. The longer you wait to join, the longer it takes before you will see the benefits from your participation.

4. 2010 is your year to succeed. Surround yourself with other winners.

5. Making up silly excuses for why you can't join now is not becoming of a focused and driven entrepreneur.



Have A Great Day

thom

Entrepreneurs' Organization Accelerator Program - Austin, Texas

The Austin Chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization has a great program called "EO Accelerator" aimed at helping growth oriented business professionals take their company to the next level.

If your company is between $250,000 and $1 Million per year in annual revenues, this is a program you may want to know more about. (Entrepreneurs with organizations over $1 Million in annual sales are eligible for full membership in EO).

I interviewed Jeffrey Stukuls, CEO of Medwing about the EO Accelerator Program. Jeffrey is a member of EO and the local person in charge of Accelerator.

TS - Tell me about EO and why you joined?

JS - Entrepreneurs Organization is better described as Entrepreneurs Only. It's a peer group of company founders who are eager to learn & grow - both personally & business growth. I joined because I was looking for people who could relate to the issues business leaders face daily.

Running a business is strangely a lonely process & one that feels like walking on the edge of the unknown a lot. I had been looking for such a group for a while when I read an article in the Wall Street Journal which talked about the Forum experience, a benefit of EO.

Forums are subset groups of local EO chapters that meet monthly and dive deep into business, personal & family issues - in order to learn by other's experience. My Forum experience has paid huge dividends over the past 1 1/2 years.

TS - What is your role with Accelerator?

JS - I chair the Accelerator Program on the EO Board this year. Effectively I'm the EO Austin Accelerator Champion. I'm responsible for driving the program - its growth, development, and actual performance. I'm putting together a group of people who are going to take the program to greater heights and make Austin's programs one of the best in the country.

TS - Why did you agree to take on this role?

JS - Since I got involved with Accelerator I've had huge personal/business benefits. The energy that participants bring is unparalleled and is a huge "E juice" boost every time I'm involved with them. The materials we cover have opened my eyes to gaps in what I've been doing and I'm
sure had I been exposed to the materials when I started I'd be way, way ahead of where I am now.

Both of these - energy & information - combined have totally reinvigorated my perspective on my business. So taking on a leadership role in the program offered me a chance to give more. And I've found that by giving more I seem to get more - especially in my personal development.

TS - What is Accelerator? How long has the program existed both nationally and in Austin?

JS - EO Accelerator is a member group that EO sponsors as a way of helping first-stage entrepreneurs get to the next level. First stage is defined as Gross Revenues of $250,000 - $1,000,000. The program is designed for entrepreneurs who want to grow & are looking for a great peer group experience, want to network with successful entrepreneurs, and learn from high-impact learning events. There are annual dues to belong and who can join is a fairly selective process - we want peers who are driving themselves and their businesses to new heights.

The program is going into it's 3rd year nationally and 2nd year in Austin. That's a feature of the program that really excites me. I enjoy being part of developing something that has great potential. The materials were developed before the program launched, so that part is really solid. How the program gets running/implemented locally is the part that is developing now into best practices. There are some programs across the country that have really large membership (more than 25 Accelerator participants), high local EO involvement, and have built a structure to ensure great perpetuation. Austin is going through that structure building and membership growth stage now - we're 11 Accelerator members strong and will be over 25 before the next 12 months is out.

TS - What type of business / entrepreneur would benefit from joining Accelerator?

JS - We're open to any type of business that is really entrepreneurial. By that statement I mean people who want to grow a business into something more than themselves. The right person is someone ready to work "on" the business, not just "in" it. I think of it as this - people who want
to be able to walk away from a business (at some point in the future) and have that business thrive without them. The time frame and concept here is broad - some entrepreneurs want quick exit events while others want to be involved for many years. And as any business grows, it
naturally needs structure that becomes somewhat independent of it's leader.

For me personally, I want to be very, very old before I "walk away" - but I expect to have more of a Berkshire Hathaway model: many businesses operating under a corporate umbrella. Each business in that umbrella will be a thriving business independent of me.

TS - What are the type of programs and events that take place for members of Accelerator and what is the time commitment?

JS - We have four primary events that take place: Accountability Groups, Learning Events, social/networking events, and the Accelerator Board.

- Accountability Groups meet once a month for about 2 hours and are made up 3-4 Accelerators and 1 EO'er/mentor. The goal is to work through real-time business issues and distill them down to important but not urgent (think Quadrant 2 issues from Stephen Covey).

- Learning Events are quarterly, full-day events. They are facilitated by nationally recognized, successful EO'ers & each day focuses on just one of these core areas: Strategy, People, Finance, or Sales/Marketing.

- Social/Networking events happen quarterly (or more frequently) and are a great way to reach out to both other Accelerators and EO'ers.

- The EO Austin Accelerator Board is a group of both Accelerators and EO'ers that are building the local program. It's a great way to help make the experience the most it can be - by helping mold it as well as interact with other leaders in deepening the leadership process.

So the minimum time commitment is 2 hours a month plus 1 day per quarter. That said, the more time you put into it, the more you can get out of it!

TS - How can someone find more information?

JS - The main EO website is http://eonetwork.org See the link on the bottom right for Accelerator, or the national page for Accelerator is found here:

http://accelerator.eonetwork.org

Locally our site, which is primarily a contact form is here:

http://www.acceleratoraustin.com

Any contact through either site will quickly get to us locally - and we'll reach out to anyone interested to help them learn more about our great members & program. I'm personally looking forward to hearing from anyone we can help!

Thanks Jeffrey!

Have A Great Day.

thom

Are You Part of Something Special?

I was excited to tell a friend about my expanded role with New Year Publishing, a company that I co-founded four years ago. My friend and business partner has been running the business, and it is great to be working closer with him on a regular basis as we expand the company.

NYP's first book was also my first book, "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships" (Available all the time at Amazon.com), but over the years the company has grown to produce more than my products and we now have over a dozen titles in our catalog.

The company helps executives, entrepreneurs and professional speakers complete there books and make them available to the world -- creating a phenomenal marketing tool to extend the reach of their products, services and brand.

A survey by the Jensen Group showed that 87% of people imagine writing a book. I professed that "being the catalyst for the fulfillment of other people's dreams brings great joy".

My friend replied "Wow, how wonderful to be part of something special".

I realized he said this with a tinge of sadness, as he looks at his job as a job, working for a company where nothing is done to challenge those who work for the organization to strive for anything more than the bottom line.

I spent the day yesterday with some very savvy and motivated entrepreneurs as part of the Entrepreneurs Organization Accelerator Program. (If you are an entrepreneur and are not familiar with EO, you should discover the local chapter in your city). Each one of these dedicated business owners is looking to create something special for themselves and their employees.

Is this creation of an exceptional place to work the exception or the rule? I talk with too many people who feel they trudge off to the workplace everyday for nothing special.

Are you part of something special? If you own a business, do you know how your employees would answer this question? If they would say "no".... or you haven't a clue as to how they would answer.... how does that make you feel? If it doesn't make you feel like crap then what went wrong?

Most entrepreneurs start their companies with lofty goals of hosting a special environment for all stakeholders, but for some these ideals get lost along the way.

I have been talking and writing a lot lately about surrounding yourself with amazing people, and it does matter (this is why I joined the EO Accelerator Program!). I see the benefits in my own life, both at New Year Publishing, in my professional speaking career, at home, and with friends. Having people who challenge you to do more than you could ever do alone is what makes your world special!

Have A Great Day

thom