Many times we use sports in the business world to support, inspire, and show examples of how to improve. With the start of a new football season upon us, I find this time of year very exciting! I live in a town that is all about SEC college football, boating, and tailgating. There is something special about cruising up the Tennessee River on a beautiful fall day, seeing Neyland Stadium, and tying up next to it with the Vol Navy. What an experience!

So when I saw a Sports Illustrated article titled “The Sabanization of College Football,” I was intrigued. Alabama is Tennessee’s biggest and longest successful rival, and they have won two championships since Nick Saban has been there. Also, UT head coach Derek Dooley worked under Saban at LSU in the early 2000’s. The article discusses the success of Saban’s program, and that is exactly what I have found to be a major key to success for businesses.

What it basically boils down to is that the focus should be all about the process of what they do rather than the end result. Saban focuses on the process that he requires of the players: how they train, how they call the plays, and even how they prepare for school work. The article says it best: “Instead of thinking about the scoreboard, think about dominating the man on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. Instead of thinking about a conference title, think about finishing a ninth rep in the weight room. Instead of thinking about graduating, think about writing a great paper for Intro to Psych.”

How much can we learn from thinking like that? In my experience, we could learn a lot, especially from how they pick their people. In both sports and business, the one with the best talent will be the winner in the long run. Saban has three key sets of criteria for each player: character / attitude / intelligence. He then breaks it down by position to things like height / weight / speed. Having specific criteria like this keeps your emotions out of it and keeps you from getting off track in making decisions.

What processes and criteria do you use to determine how your company gets work done and what you look for to bring in new talent? We have processes at Efficience, but we still need to work on some areas. I need to push harder for this and inspect what I expect.

I hope you get to enjoy some great fall days with your friends and experience some big game excitement with your favorite team. Go Vols!

Who are you connected with? What is the value of connection? If you read any of my blogs over a period of time, you could pull out the frequent topic of connectivity. So why is it such a major theme? Even marketing guru Seth Godin discusses the importance of connecting in his recent blog “First, connect.” Let’s take a look back at a little science and history, and then we will come back to how it is relevant in business.

My partner in my first company was a biologist. It may not have seemed relevant, but he was also a portfolio manager overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars. You can look at individual cells and neurons, but watch what happens when they start multiplying to create something unique and totally different. As humans, we start out as one cell that divides into what become approximately 50 trillion cells as adults. Some of those cells are neurons that start firing and connecting with one another to create, among other things, consciousness. In our investment business, we focused on things that were connecting our world at the time, so not only was all this biology relevant, but it created some great returns.

Historically, you can look back and see how civilizations have seen more growth and higher standards of living when they have been most connected to others. For about 5000 years, we lived as hunters and gathers before we changed into an agrarian society growing our own food. Then, the tools to help us become more connected came along, and things really changed. Inventions like the telegraph, the railroads, telephones, semiconductor chips, the internet, and now the cell phone have all been game changers to bring us closer together and create living standards that have blown away the way we lived just 200 years ago.

Many of you have seen some of these changes happen before your eyes, and even more are coming. Connectivity changes our world and the way we work, play, and socialize. If we understand the importance of connections and how they will change the way we live, we can put ourselves in the path of that change and benefit. If we are not aware of it, we will either be left behind or run over by change.

How we connect to the world around us is expanding fast in the mobile space, so how will your business grow by the connections you create with your clients and customers? Are your eyes open to the possibilities that mobile has for your business?

In last week’s blog, we discussed how we are entering the Web 3.0 world. That world consists of mobile. We talked about creating real value for customers and real commerce for merchants. I recently came across some really great examples of this in an article called Web 3.0: The Mobile Era written by Jay Jamison, who has a venture company that invests in early stage mobile companies.

Mobile acts as a much tighter link connecting advertisers and users, which makes it easier to close a transaction. Jay says “Now technology services have the ability to leverage not just the social graph data from Facebook, but even more real-time / real-world information. Your current location, weather, traffic, local merchants other friends nearby, how often you’ve been to this specific store or location are available (or will be soon). And this in turn provides a whole new level of commerce opportunities for potential advertisers.”

Let’s look at a few companies that are already doing this, like Waze, ShopKick, and Foodspotting. Waze is a service for social mapping and GPS. It provides the fastest routes around congestion with real time traffic information. You can also get offers for the cheapest gas along your route from Waze. Do you think this will drive some people to do business through those offers?

Another mobile app called Shopkick is pretty neat in that it turns the shopping experience into a game. It rewards shoppers for tasks and quests that they complete, and Shopkick is showing that shoppers spend more money in stores while using their app.

How would you like to know the best dishes to buy at local restaurants? With the Foodspotting app, you can. It knows where you are and shows you the pictures of what others rate as the best food at nearby establishments. This is very cool for the merchants because they can offer promotions to those that are looking at the dishes they want to order, which will drive people to go there to eat. What’s to think about? You are looking at a yummy dish that you already are dying to try, and a promotion comes along with it. I am seeing the dollar signs, are you?

As I assume you are staring to guess, the world of mobile is going to be exciting for both the users and businesses out there. This is not a world of ads that will pop up on your screen. This is more about the creative interaction that can occur when you position all the technology that we have in our hands in a way that engages our customers to want to spend money with us. This will be a disruptive world and one in which the innovators will be the winners.

What are you doing to engage your customers with the mobile experience and make them more eager to spend with you?

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People are often looking for the magic to make a business work. When you listen to a successful person talk, they typically get asked, “What is the one word you would pick that is needed to be successful?” My word for that question is determination. As I listened to Randy Boyd speak today at The Legacy Centre Speaker Series, he answered the question with the word PERSISTENCE!

In this context, I would say that both words are synonyms. It takes every bit of persistence and determination that you can muster to get a business to the million dollar mark, let alone the multi hundreds of millions mark like Randy’s company PetSafe. During their annual review, Boyd asked his people why they have failed, and if they have not failed in some way, then he says they are not pushing the boundaries enough.

At Efficience, we have done some innovative work with PetSafe and are excited to be working with their team pushing the boundaries. This work will be released soon, and then l will share this exciting stuff! They are all about making having pets easier and more fun!

Randy shared a story about working with suppliers. He pushed them to continue to ship products to him and negotiated payments over time. He juggled things coming and going to pay suppliers as he made sales. This is a classic story of a successful business person. Many of us have it in our heads that successful people have it so good and have it all figured out, so they have no worries or issues. If someone is successful, it is almost always because he or she went through a lot of worries and issues, with the key being that they PERSISTED through them.

What about you? If you have some level of success in business or life, what would be your one word that you would describe that it takes to make it to a higher level?

Having a business and being an entrepreneur, you attempt to make a difference in your life, sometimes in the lives of others, and not so often, in the world. I see this on a daily basis because running a company is integral in the lives of many people around me.

You usually see the small things but not the larger impact that you might make someday in the future. For example, you may have created some great product that improves the lives of others in a meaningful way, or you may go public in an IPO and share stock with your early hard-working employees that one day generates more money than ever imagined.

Sometimes, your greatest impact to make the world better may not even show up until after you’re gone. This was the case for Rachel Beckwith, a little girl that forever changed the lives of 60,000 people after she was killed in a tragic accident. I will share the story briefly, and then you can watch the short video to see the effects of her dreams and actions. Warning to all viewers: if you are uncomfortable feeling the goodness of humans helping each other and fear a tear may build up around your eyes, don’t watch this video.

At 9 years of age, Rachel Beckwith had a big heart and wanted to solve many of the problems she saw in the world. When Scott Harrison from Charity Water (my favorite charity) visited her church and shared how his organization helps young kids in Africa get access to clean drinking water, she set out to help and created her own fundraising page. With her ninth birthday coming up, she asked those that normally gave her gifts to donate $9 instead, with a goal to raise $300.

She raised $220 and made a promise to try harder next year. However, a few weeks later, a tractor-trailer on I-90 near Seattle, WA jackknifed into a logging truck and smashed into Rachel’s car. She was the only one critically injured, and on July 23, 2011, she was taken off life support. The news of her story soon spread, and in the month that followed, approximately 30,000 people gave $1.2-million.

Watch as Rachel’s mom goes to Africa to witness the new wells flowing with clean water and the impact that her 9 year old daughter has left on the lives of so many.

What is the legacy that you are going to leave behind?

See VIDEO here.

Given some of the recent comments by those in the White House, I must share the experience of my own entrepreneur journey and how it differs from these recent statements.

When I was starting a mutual fund, I dealt with many people and agencies of both the state and federal governments. Their job was to ensure I met every regulatory obligation they could think of, and they seemed to come up with even more. I found nothing but roadblocks getting in my way as I tried to get this mutual fund off the ground.

At that time, there was only one money market mutual fund being run out of the Memphis area of Tennessee. When I was creating a stock mutual fund, the Tennessee regulators were all concerned about covering their behinds. They created requirements on the fly that we needed to meet in order to get the fund approved to sell in the state.

I am sure I have never heard anyone in the government say something like, “Greg, this mutual fund seems like a great idea and should create some high paying jobs for our state! What can we do to help you?”

The SEC audited us four times over the 10 years we had the funds, and each time, they spent a week in my office trying to discover something we were doing wrong. Not once did they ever ask how they could help us make the fund more successful, more marketable, or easier to manage. They focused on what they could do to find something wrong, so they could issue a fine or shut us down.

When we were getting our software company off the ground, I went a year without a paycheck, so we could pay all the employees and keep the business going. I didn’t hear anyone in the state or federal government offering to support me and help me out during this endeavor. The risks I had taken and the rewards I had earned in the past allowed me to do that. My partners and I sacrificed and took the risk, as we should have, and we will benefit from any success that we may generate. With our tax dollars, the government will get its “fair share” even though I never heard a single government agency offering to assist me or my business.

The government has provided aid for connecting the people in the economy by building railroads and interstates. They only did this AFTER someone took the risk to build the steam engine, locomotive, internal combustion engine, and automobile. Individuals and families all across America have worked hard and sacrificed to build their businesses and their dreams, building this country!

Click here to see video.

That was my experience. What was yours? Any entrepreneurs out there feel that if it wasn’t for the government, they would have gotten where they are or have been able to stay around?

As business owners, customers, and people, when we buy something, we like to think we are getting the same amount of value for the money we are spending. This is true if we spend $50, $500, or $5,000. We don’t care as much about the dollar amount as we care about the value. If we were only concerned about the price, we would all stay at $59 per night hotels, and obviously that doesn’t always happen. In fact, we will spend $100, $150, or $250 for a hotel to have a high-quality experience. After all, we don’t just want to sleep anywhere, right?

The same can be said for just about everything we buy. As a business, we must provide value relative to the cost of our product or service. This value is what would incentivize people to purchase from our business rather than another. Most of the time, it doesn’t matter if the cost is significantly higher than competitors because people know they are paying for the value. A customer’s reasoning behind a purchase is not always logical and can be based on emotions such as pride, vanity, competitiveness, fear and pleasure.

What elements of your business are appealing to customers and stimulate their desire to buy your product or service? Knowing this and working to increase awareness to one or more of these elements could increase the attraction, discussion, sharing and purchase.

At Efficience, we build custom websites for people that are looking to work with our experienced creative director, Tori Rose, to create a unique, visually appealing website that fits their specific brand. Other options are available for people to purchase an out-of-the-box website at a relatively lower cost. Sometimes, though, this option limits aesthetic qualities and functionality, but it still provides basic web presence. Some customers only value web presence, while others value an attractive and compelling site that resonates with specific emotions they want to connect with.

Is your company focusing more on value or price? How are your products or services providing value to your customers that is worth the price?

We held our quarterly meeting this past week, and with it came some great discussions. Most of these conversations were centered on our direction and reaching our Big Hairy Audacious Goal, as introduced by Jim Collins. One major point that came up: How do we get where we want to go when we’re consumed by our day-to-day work activities?

We also discussed the Flywheel concept, as Collins examines in “Good to Great!” I realize that in business, we all want to get there and get there now! However, building a business is more like pushing on a huge 20 ton flywheel, 100 feet in diameter, and 10 feet thick. The flywheel represents your company, and it is at a standstill when you start out or maybe even when a big change hits you.

It takes a tremendous effort to get it to move an inch. With proper alignment as well as continuous effort and energy, you get it to spin one time, and then another and another. Then at some point, you break through with enough momentum that it spins around and around without any additional effort. This is the flywheel effect in action. It takes time to make it happen, but when it does, watch out!

There has been lots of buzz around the quick success of Instagram, but this isn’t
the norm. As the research from Collins pointed out, it takes about 25 years before before a good company begins the journey to turn into a great company. It’s faster to connect to a marketplace today with the internet and social media than it has been in the past, but it still helps me to be reminded of this, and I guess it may help you also.

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In previous blogs, I have shared my admiration for Robin Sharma, best-selling author and business coach, and when I viewed some of the mostly highly watched videos from him, I wanted to share one that most resonated with me. The video “How Remarkable Entrepreneurs Build Winning Teams” had a great message and had accumulated almost 18,000 views.

I have been working for years to build a great team, and I am excited about the one that is in place today! We have gone through different team members, and it seemed to be an evolution on the talent that we were attracting. Today, the team is full of highly skilled and dedicated people that want to give their all to make the company improve and grow.

Here are the 5 things entrepreneurs do to build a winning team:

1) Appreciation – show appreciation and give praise. A gallop study said that the #1 reason companies lose talent is that employees don’t feel appreciated. I am thankful for my team and could do more to share that with them.

2) Belonging – create a sense of belonging. People like to feel like they belong to a special community. Our team just seems to like each other by the way they joke and laugh so often.

3) Develop Your People – grow their talents, challenge them to be better, and take them where they want to go. Mentor and help them be better. We ask them weekly what they have learned, and we pay for educational programs for our team.

4) Celebrate Your Team – celebrate the big things but also the little things that happen along the way. We have had little celebrations such as going to lunch together and even a coupon book that can save over a $1,000 to local retailers. We could do more to celebrate our team and will work on this.

5) Communicate a Compelling Purpose – share a common goal and passion. People like to feel like they are making a difference. Here at Efficience, we believe that there is a better way to leverage technology in your business. We are passionate about creating life-improving solutions, such as more affordable mobile apps for small businesses, so they can connect with their customers and grow their business.

I know I could do more and I will work harder in these areas. What are you doing to help your team to be the winners you know they can be?

I have written many blogs, and for the most part, I talk about the opportunities in the marketplace, the people, the freedom, the places, and the experiences of being an entrepreneur. Rarely have I discussed the struggle and how being an entrepreneur can be downright difficult at times. This is part of the environment that you take up when you choose or, for some, are forced into this path. The allure of the business owner draws you in, but are you prepared for the reality that will inevitably follow?

Ben Horowitz, with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, reminded me of this in his recent blog entitled “The Struggle.” Yes, this is the same firm co-owned by Marc Andreessen, who started Netscape, which introduced one of the original web browsers. It is the same firm that invested $250,000 into Instagram and walked away with $78 million two years later.

You might think there isn’t much to struggle over as a successful business owner, but in reality, in order to get to that success, you experience “The Struggle.” This is a world that is dark and difficult, and it is one with which I am familiar, as are most entrepreneurs that have achieved any level of success.

Some of the comments that really resonated with me are as follows:

The Struggle is when you wonder why you started the company in the first place.

The Struggle is when you are having a conversation with someone and you can’t hear a word that they are saying because all you can hear is The Struggle.

The Struggle is when you want the pain to stop. The Struggle is unhappiness.

The Struggle is when you are surrounded by people and you are all alone. The Struggle has no mercy.

The Struggle is not failure, but it causes failure. Especially if you are weak. Always if you are weak.

The Struggle is where greatness comes from.

This is not a good place to be and can bring down the best of them. I have been there before and have even felt it recently. The economy and world situations are causing many to be in The Struggle. Business is not easy, and most are reluctant to spend when they can’t see past all the doom and gloom.

Ben explains that there are no answers to The Struggle, but he discusses several things that have helped him move forward. Share some of the burden; don’t put it all on your own shoulders. Realize that it will not upset your people more than you because nobody feels the effects more than the person most responsible. We both think that getting the most brains on the problem, the better. Remember collective intelligence.

This is a chess game and one that is multidimensional. You always have a move even when you don’t think there is one. Ben says to focus on the road like they teach you when driving a racecar because if you look at the wall, you will drive into it. You go where you are focused.

Another key philosophy Ben and I share: Stay in the game long enough, and you might get lucky. To say it another way, in the technological world in which we live, the answer that seems impossible today may turn up tomorrow if you stick around.

One thing that helps me is to stay present. This is not easy to do, but I find when I focus on my mistakes (and in the past, there have been many) or try to deal with what might come up in the future, I have removed myself from knowing that everything is alright in this moment. I think you are more open to the answers the universe brings you when you are right here right now, rather than when you are looking back or forward.

All the best deal with the Struggle. Remember, that is where greatness comes from.