Employee Share Ownership – Alignment of Goals
In my previous post on Strategy and Corporate Governance for Small Business, I talked about aligning Shareholder goals with the running of the company. This applies to employee share ownership as well.
When offering employees ownership you are making them shareholders.
Companies sometimes do this in an attempt to retain employees as the primary motive. However, there are issues:
- Shares in a privately held company are not the same as a cash bonus. They are a paper benefit until they can be sold.
- The goals of employee shareholders need to be in alignment with majority shareholders. If they are not then it might […]
Two Robins and Some Lessons
Earlier today I was watching the birds in our yard. They are starting to gather together in greater numbers as they get ready to start migrating. It was interesting watching them dart through the air and how they interacted.
As I was getting ready for work, I heard a big crash.
I went back to the window to see what was going on and two robins were laying beside the glass on our deck. In their high speed acrobatics, they had missed that fact that it was glass and not a normal opening.
One of the birds eventually got up and was still […]
Strategy and Corporate Governance for Small Business
Corporate structure goes something like this:
- Shareholders – The owners of the business or enterprise
- Board of Directors – The elected representatives of the shareholders whose function is twofold: provide strategic guidance to the corporate officers (management team) and make sure the interests of the shareholders are protected.
- Corporate Officer or Management Team – The senior person (and sometimes some of the key subordinates) are be appointed (approved or hired) by the board of directors to carry out the will of the Board of Directors and Shareholders.
- Other employees and contractors – Are hired by the management team or their representatives […]
Lessons From Amazon
The lessons in a nutshell:
- Always focus on your customers first; not your competition or anything else.
- Invent – Don't settle for either or; invent a solution that gives you both… invent for your customers.
- Think Long Term – Keep your eye on the long-term payback and not the quick results. If you are doing the first two in conjunction with this you will eventually do well.
- It is always Day 1 – There are always new opportunities to focus on customers, invent and think long-term.
Fall – Back to Business
We are up on a bit of a hill. Last night we got a surprise frost. So much for the weather forecast.
Yup the nights are getting cooler here in Calgary and that means everyone is getting back to business after a relatively short summer.
There are two main periods of busy business activity here in Calgary: Fall and Winter/Spring. Stampede until Labour Day is a slow period and so is December/January. This year with the doom and gloom economy still lingering, it was especially pronounced.
Federally, the politicians are thumping their chests again. Too bad they consider their job to be mudslinging […]
Outsourcing your HR Needs – Small Business
Al and I finally reconnected with Kim Bechtel after losing touch a few years ago. We did a project for him while he was at the City of Calgary. Somehow we lost touch and then when Kim changed jobs, his contact information no longer worked.
Today Kim is the President and Chief Idea Officer at YourHRco (web site under construction).
He has been working in HR for many years but has decided to focus on HR strategy and services related to smaller businesses. Small business is different than the big companies and HR needs to be applied to helping small businesses with those […]
IMC Vancouver – Calgary Preview
Al Dhalla and I attended a sneak preview of the Vancouver Internet Marketing Conference hosted by Anduro Marketing.
It was kind of like appetizers before the main meal. Tasty but not very filling.
The full conference should be a lot more meaty as it goes for three days rather than just a couple of hours. Looks like there are lots of good presenters too.
101 Business Tips
Good compilation of business and marketing tips from various authors.
Gaining Competitive Advantage
Today I was thinking of what competitive advantage really means and came up with a few categories or methods of gaining competitive advantage. I think it is well worth looking at how you stack up against each category periodically (anything missing?).
Capability
Essentially you have something or can do something that is significantly better than your competitors. Even better if you are the only one or there is a barrier to entry.
Speed
How quick can you deliver on your promise and how fast can you respond to change.
Knowledge
What do you know that your competition doesn't. Knowing your customer fits here and so does intellectual property.
Location
Location, […]
Who Are You (and your Business)?
Who are you? What matters? What do you stand for? What do you want to become?
At the core, the business and owners must be in synch for long-term success.
Sure you can buy a franchise for a proven business, say a muffler shop, but if you have absolutely no interest fixing cars it is going to be a long painful ride.
I've been running Sunwapta Solutions for over 9 years now and we never clearly defined this for ourselves… until now. Luckily strong ethics and doing good work were part of our core make up without thinking about it regularly.
If you just go with […]