Small Business Archives

Looking to Start a Business? Read this One Book First

11/20/2021Jon Rennie

Close to 4.5 million new businesses were started in the United States in 2020, making it the highest year on record. New business start-ups jumped 24% from 2019 and more than 50% about the 2010-2019 average. Half a million businesses were started in January 2021 alone.

One of the effects of the COVID pandemic is a desire for people to leave their jobs and do something independently.

As a manufacturing business owner in my sixth year of a start-up, I want to caution those beginning down this path.

Starting a business is challenging, and success is not guaranteed.

You are more likely to fail than succeed.

So, why do millions of people each year ignore the statistics and become entrepreneurs?

Because they see successful entrepreneurs, and they think they can do it as well.

They see the “hustle porn” on social media telling them that they too can have a fancy car and a private jet if they just work hard.

They see people like Phil Knight, a former college athlete who took a desire to find the perfect running shoe and built it into Nike, a global brand worth more than $280 billion.

They think, “if he can do it, I can too.”

The problem is that every entrepreneur underestimates the immensity of the task.

Every entrepreneur underestimates the immensity of the task. Click To Tweet

How do I know? I did as well.

As aspiring entrepreneurs, we only see the final version of Nike. We have no idea what it took Phil Knight and his team to get it there.

That is until Phil Knight told us about it in his book, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike.

This is an incredible dive into what it truly takes to start a company. In this book, we learn that Phil Knight’s journey from a crazy idea of importing Japanese running shoes to building a successful, global brand was anything but a short story.

He faced cash flow problems, lawsuits, unfaithful partners, government investigations, media scrutiny, employees leaving for the competition, and the loss of endorsing athletes.

Problems every entrepreneur will face.

Nike is the story of an overnight success that took more than 18 years.

The lesson you will take away from this book is that starting a business is incredibly arduous, and only the strong, persistent, and lucky will survive.

Starting a business is incredibly arduous, and only the strong, persistent, and lucky will survive. Click To Tweet

One quote that struck me from the book is Knight talking with his team after struggling for years to get the company off the ground.

He said, “The cowards never started, and the weak died along the way. That leaves us, ladies and gentlemen. Us.”

If you’re thinking of starting a business, you probably know it won’t be an overnight success. But are you prepared for 2, 5, or 10 years of continuous struggle?

Knight and his team battled for close to two decades to get Nike off the ground.

For me, there is no better book to understand real entrepreneurship than Shoe Dog.

I highly recommend you read it cover-to-cover before you even think about registering your new company.

Start-up life is gratifying, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

[THANA PRASONGSIN/GETTY IMAGES]

Radical Transparency

08/25/202008/06/2021Jon Rennie

Have you ever sat through an annual performance review and had that awkward feeling?

Like your boss was not giving you true feedback?

Like they were just going through the motions?

Did it seem…Fake? Forced? Phony?

Maybe it’s just me, but when I worked in corporate America, I couldn’t stand the annual performance review process.

Once a year, I would get feedback from my boss.

The company had a policy – so he wrote up a review, we sat down together, and he checked the box.

The feedback certainly wasn’t timely but it also wasn’t very honest.

What do I mean by that?

The feedback wasn’t real. It wasn’t raw. It wasn’t a true reflection of what my boss thought of my performance.

Instead, it was a carefully worded document designed to keep my boss and the company out of trouble. It was almost like a legal document that stated that we met, we reviewed my performance over the past year, and it was generally good. Simple and safe…and irrelevant.

A safe, bland review to check the box and move one.

Contrast this with life in a small company.

I recently had D’Shawn Russell on my podcast. She is the founder and owner of Southern Elegance Candle Company.

When I asked her about leadership in a small, start-up company, she said something that stood out.

She said she practiced radical transparency.

When I asked what it was, she was very clear. She said, “I tell my people exactly what I think of their performance on a daily basis…If they suck, I tell them and if they can’t turn it around, they know I’ll fire them.”

I tell my people exactly what I think of their performance on a daily basis Click To Tweet

She added, “But if they’re doing good, I tell them that as well.”

In the bland corporate world of pale pastels, her comments stood out as bold colors.

I’ll admit, at first I was taken aback. I thought she was being a little too transparent with her employees but then I thought about this simple rule:

Feedback should be timely and relevant.

Feedback should be timely and relevant. Click To Tweet

I have no doubt that her employees always know exactly where they stand at any time. Radical transparency means honest and timely feedback. I know a lot of good employees who would prefer to get honest and timely feedback instead of the bland corporate review.

So think about the feedback you are providing employees.

Is it real? Is it timely? And is it honest?

Or are you just checking a box once a year?

Try practicing radical transparency and let me know how it goes.

Listen to my entire interview with D’Shawn here. It’s a powerful story on what it takes to lead a startup business.

For more stories like this, get my Amazon bestselling leadership book, I Have the Watch: Becoming a Leader Worth Following. Signed copies are available here.

My Interview on the Whistle and a Clipboard Podcast

08/22/201908/06/2021Jon Rennie

Today I appeared on the Whistle and a Clipboard Podcast to talk about my latest book, I Have the Watch. During this podcast, I talk about the fundamentals of being a leader and the similarities between coaches and leaders.

The Whistle and a Clipboard Podcast with Coach Jason Oates is a coaching community podcast where Jason interviews successful coaches from the past, present, and future to learn from their coaching failures and successes.

This is a great back-and-forth discussion on the importance of leadership and the role of the leader. So, listen in and enjoy my conversation with Jason!

For those of you who have been asking, I Have the Watch is now available on Audible.