Bonjour! Good to have you back. Have you ever forgotten to click the “record” button when you and your friends get together to record a podcast? Don’t worry; James hasn’t, either. Jeremy introduces this episode’s topic, “How do you test and measure new business ideas or products?” He opens the discussion by stating that he’s fired some people in the last forty-eight hours. Maybe some of you took him up on the offer to hire him as a freelance executioner? If you haven’t, he seems willing and ready to fire people for you; you should get in touch. The group talks about various ways to test and experiment with business ideas. Kevin and James shared about a new product experiment that’s currently in development. Of course, they didn’t give any details, which made it a bit boring, to be honest. If you’re absolutely looking for some nuggets out of that part of the conversation, James suggests that one way of testing ideas is to see if your current user base has a problem that the idea solves. Jeremy also observes that one method of deciding is a simple risk versus reward examination. Rob tells a story, surprise, about someone who is really smart giving him a packet of documents explaining where The Alderman Group should go in the future. This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned this mysterious figure, and he was a bit dodgy when asked if it may have been a future version of himself, al a Back To The Future II. This mentor explained that a good way to think about expanding your business is asking: “What are we paying for that we could do better?” If you know your industry, chances are you know enough to be dangerous in adjacent or ancillary industries that support yours as well. This shadowy “maybe future Rob” mentor seems really smart. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t future Rob… Somehow, Rob gets to the topic of playing ice hockey; apparently it’s really important to skate “where the puck is going rather than to where it is.” Eventually he relates that he spent an hour or two a day for the past several months considering where his business should go and arrived at his infamous “pivot.” What is this “pivot” you ask? Well, stop asking, because Rob ain’t telling. There are secrets all over this podcast. I feel like I’m listening to a much less interesting version of Serial. Jeremy tries to save us from the hockey analogy by interrupting Rob and asking about when it’s better to stay focused on what you’re doing well, rather than branching off into a new business venture. Jeremy introduced the topic and then most of the way through the discussion decides to play devil’s advocate and suggest that maybe you shouldn’t branch out into anything new after all. Kevin talks way too much in this episode, perhaps compensating for the fact that he was basically dead when the previous episode was recorded. I don’t think he’s been able to find a real balance yet. Hopefully he will soon, for all our sakes. Rob relates a heartfelt apology and gives us all a well-deserved lesson in being humble. To be honest, it makes all the other hosts’ recommendations seem a bit shallow in comparison. I decided to take some time to reflect upon how I can become more humble and less self-serving. I’m just kidding, you can find my rebuttal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHEfSzUbh3s Jeremy phones in his recommendation this week with a shameless plug for a Wal-Mart plug for his phone. He must have been a Boy Scout because he takes the motto very seriously. Or at least he thinks that you should. To be fair, Jeremy is a very busy man and rolled up late to the recording, so perhaps his lack of preparedness should be expected. James recommends a blog on leadership by Chris Lema. I don’t have anything bad to say about Chris; he’s pretty awesome. He’s the kind of boss you really want: insightful, intelligent, good-looking, you get the picture. If you see an ad for “AIB show notes writer” on indeed.com, then you know where I went. Kevin suggests using a program for Mac called Moom that allows you to automate window arranging. If you struggle with getting all your program windows ordered, Moom may solve your problem. But, let’s face it, if you have that many windows open at once, you’re probably just goofing off anyway. Also, his recommendation is only for Mac OSX. Talk about lazy; he couldn’t even be bothered to research a Windows alternative? Typical.

Our Recommendations

• Rob: TIP - Embrace Humility
• Kevin: APP - Moom
• Jeremy: TIP - Be prepared?
• James: BLOG - Leadership Notes

Fun Sized Teasers

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Show Notes

Hey! You came back! I’m not surprised or anything; just being friendly. We’ve all had to deal with awful coworkers or employees. In this episode, our hosts dive into the world of employee conflict. What do you do when you don’t get along with an employee? Worse yet, what do you do when an employee doesn’t get along with the rest of your team? Those aren’t rhetorical questions, Rob seriously wants to know. Feel free to shoot him an email. Just google The Alderman Group. You’ll find him. During the discussion, James describes how he and Zach, an employee of his company, can get into talks that escalate into heated arguments. At the end of the day, James calls Zach a younger version of himself, which I guess means that he likes to argue with himself? Or he hates himself? Or he’s projecting? I’m not a licensed psychologist, so I don’t know how to properly interpret that. I can barely spell psychologist. Ok, fine, I used spell-check. Out of all the hosts, Jeremy seems to have had the most recent experience with dealing with problem employees. His solution? Just fire ‘em all and start over. That’s what he’d do. At the risk of sounding too serious, Jeremy does give some good advice about making sure that you allow employees who aren’t a good fit to find something that is a good fit for them. On a related note, if you need to fire someone, I think Jeremy may be available to consult. Rob tells a story about Strength Finders™, a job that he wasn’t the right fit for, and how sometimes it’s better for employees and businesses when they discover they are no longer a fit. It took someone on the outside to question why he remained at a job that was making him miserable. Of course, if you don’t like your job, it’s probably much better if you get God to get you fired, like Rob did. Just let God deal with all the little details. Let go, and let God. If Kevin is your favourite host, and let’s face it, he probably is, this won’t be your favourite episode. The team does their best to keep him awake, but Kevin possibly has a cold. Or the flu. Or maybe he’s dying of some exotic illness. Should he have come into the office just to talk over Rob’s nice story about prayer and specific flavours of Evangelical Christianity? Probably not. Is this episode better off because of his Nyquil-induced fugue state? Arguable. Are the show notes better because of his altered consciousness? Absolutely. Overall, you get the feeling that the entrepreneurs are trying to make themselves feel better about firing people. Most of the talk is focused on how letting employees go is often better for the business AND the employee, but definitely for the employee. Want to know the worst ways to fire employees? You’re in luck! Towards the end of the episode, James reads his inaugural top 4 list about this very topic. I don’t want to spoil anything, but James’ list seems to lean a bit towards the left. He throws shade at Wal-Mart for giving raises while closing several Sam’s Clubs without warning and calls out the president for firing someone with a tweet. The whole thing seems like FAKE NEWS to me! James’ list has always been FAKE NEWS. I’ve always said it. James’ Lame List, that’s what I’ve always called it! Kevin recommends getting someone else to do your job for you. Jeremy recommends not working at all. Hmm. There may be a pattern there. James thinks you should listen to a podcast by Jon Acuff, while Rob suggests using an app on your phone to interface with a fax machine. Apparently he encounters a lot of fax machines.

Our Recommendations

• Kevin: TIP - Get a virtual assistant
• Jeremy: TIP - Take more downtime
• Rob: APP - FaxBurner
• James: PODCAST - Creative Slide with Jon Acuff

BONUS

[caption id="attachment_165" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] World's Largest Side Hug-SCL[/caption]   [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="large" ids="166,167"]

Welcome to the show notes! Thanks for stopping by. Do you like to talk about guns? Because 1/4 of the Adventures in Businessing podcast does! James, Rob, and Kevin attempt to steer the conversation about business ethics away from the second amendment, while Jeremy keeps trying to give the wheel a hard spin toward the craggy shores of political division. We briefly discuss Wal-mart and Dick's Sporting Goods' decision to not sell rifles to people under the age of 21. The crew successfully maneuvers the ship through those choppy waters and into the harbour of business ethics, where they run aground on the jagged rocks of reality. Ok. I think I've tortured that metaphor enough. Should businesses get involved in social issues? If they should, what responsibilities do they have? Is corporate activism the future of change? Do people care what their favourite soda brand does with their profits? Should they? Remember when that bakery wouldn't bake a cake for a same-sex couple? We're nothing if not topical and timely. If you don't remember, don't worry, Rob has a story about it. Rob is a libertarian. He thinks that the free market could solve all the world's problems. That's not hyperbole; I promise! Most of the hosts agree that the government shouldn't be involved in deciding which customers a business has to do business with, but obviously there are abusive cases that do need to be legislated. Can the free market solve the problem of the jerk baker? Out of nowhere, James brings the podcast back to how businesses, specifically Kabbage, are responding to the Florida shooting, and Jeremy suggests a Remington sponsorship. Rob suggests that businesses should be concerned with making the world a better place because it's better for business. He uses Facebook's recent content changes as an example of how the market normalises. Initially businesses, and the market, dipped after the strategy announcement. They recovered as businesses dug into the new Facebook content focus. At the end of the day, you're tied to the business decisions you make, and you have to sleep at night. Jeremy discusses Bonlife coffee and its focus on sustainable practices. They've backed off it a bit because most people don't want to be reminded that there are poor people in the world while getting their morning caffeine fix. Kevin pretends to be a dirty consumerist pig who just wants to drink his sugar water. James, Kevin, and Jeremy recommend books, while Libertarian Rob recommends an Orwellian wrist device that sends all your data to the government. Bonus: If you want to hear the funniest thing ever, listen to this podcast at slow-speed. I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

Our Recommendations

• Kevin: Delivering Happiness - Book
• Rob: Fitbit. You can choose your own version, but we linked to the Charge 2.
• Jeremy: Start with Why - Book
• James: All things Profit First - Book, Podcast

When you are good at something it's natural to think the next step is to start a business doing that thing. Is that the right choice for everyone? Are there challenges and caveats you need to keep in mind? In this episode of Adventures in Businessing, Kevin, James, Rob, and Jeremy explore these questions and more.

Our Recommendations

• Jeremy Moore: InnerGuide
• Rob Alderman: Clear
• Kevin Stover: Tip - Remove Facebook...
• James Laws: missinglettr (aff)