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Adventures in Businessing

Adventures in Businessing (AIB) is the culmination of over 60 years in organizational leadership experience between three best friends and business partners. Discover the how working together should work.
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Now displaying: February, 2017
Feb 23, 2017
The AIB crew starts this week's episode by visiting THE 'Ancient Email' that started James and Kevin's business partner. Which leads into the celebration of the WP Ninjas transitioning Jon from part-time, to the newest member of their salaried roster. They then briefly (in proper AIB jokingly-awkward fashion) segway into emotions and being/not being in touch with them.

Our Favorite Things:

The crew topic breaks with Kenny “gratefully” delivering this week's sponsor, Chevrolet, and the Chevy Volt.

Business Processes, Systems, and Productivity:

  • Implementing a support ‘Andon’ system.
    • What it is, why it matters, why you need it.
  • Measure the health of process flow.
  • Support will be with you always.
    • 24/7 support is NOT healthy.
      • You team cannot be effective with that philosophy.
  • On implementing process.
  • Preparing for the probable and the unlikely.
  • Never 100% trust forecasts.
    • Treat your data with a grain of salt.
    • Acknowledge trends and react to them.
  • Why James enforces and lives his "no one left behind" mentality.
Feb 23, 2017
The AIB crew starts this week's episode by visiting THE 'Ancient Email' that started James and Kevin's business partner. Which leads into the celebration of the WP Ninjas transitioning Jon from part-time, to the newest member of their salaried roster. They then briefly (in proper AIB jokingly-awkward fashion) segway into emotions and being/not being in touch with them.

Our Favorite Things:

The crew topic breaks with Kenny “gratefully” delivering this week's sponsor, Chevrolet, and the Chevy Volt.

Business Processes, Systems, and Productivity:

  • Implementing a support ‘Andon’ system.
    • What it is, why it matters, why you need it.
  • Measure the health of process flow.
  • Support will be with you always.
    • 24/7 support is NOT healthy.
      • You team cannot be effective with that philosophy.
  • On implementing process.
  • Preparing for the probable and the unlikely.
  • Never 100% trust forecasts.
    • Treat your data with a grain of salt.
    • Acknowledge trends and react to them.
  • Why James enforces and lives his "no one left behind" mentality.
Special thanks to the CrashJonesBand for providing us with our theme music. No One Can Tell You How To Live by CrashJonesBand
Feb 17, 2017
In this episode, Jon hath become undead... Barring that breach of logic and reality, the whole crew moves into a fantastic, content rich topic lineup of quantifying success and launching a product amongst a multitude of competitors.

The Startup Rat-race:

  • Defining success.
  • You should NOT be obsessing about your product, numbers, or work 24/7.
  • Every business is a lifestyle business, the question is, “What kind of lifestyle is it giving you?”
  • Be the captain of your own ship.
  • Don’t be apart of the rat-race.
    • Compete with yourself, then beat yourself.
  • Hockey stick growth is great, but don’t expect it.
    • Be happy with steady growth.
  • The dangers of venture capitalist funding.
  • Silicon Valley should not be your standard
  • More money does not equal happiness.
    • There are ample studies showing those who make over a 70-75k salary, have diminishing returns on happiness.
      • The same studies show 35-75k being the happiness sweet-spot, depending on family size and location.

Launching a Product in a Saturated Market:

  • Weighting starting in a saturated market versus creating a category.
    • Pros and cons of launching in the middle of saturation.
  • A demo for your product is a great tool.
  • Finding out what users need.
    • Be the solution.
  • What are people saying about the competition?
  • Fanboys can be dangerous.
  • Beware of false standards from the competition.
  • Legacy users can be trouble in some situations.
  • Price is a terrible differentiator.
    • You must stand out in other ways.
    • You want customers who are seeking solutions, not bargains.
    • Don't undercut your worth.
  • Anybody can build a feature that you have.
    • Anybody can do what you've done.
  • Evaluate and often reevaluate what can, will, and does set you apart.
    • Finding your differentiator versus finding your niche.
We close out with Kenny dropping a hilarious bit of hot knowledge on us (which gets mildly explicit), as he explains business jargon, as only a Kenny can.
Special thanks to the CrashJonesBand for providing us with our theme music. No One Can Tell You How To Live by CrashJonesBand
Feb 11, 2017
The crew comes to terms with life without Jon. ...James gets so choked up that he can't pronounce the show title. James, Kevin, and Kenny proceed to suggest many ways to bring Jon back…which includes everything from replacing him with his twin, picking another Jon from the multiverse, to cloning. (Spoiler: Due to the dark turn this show has taken, Jon may very well be undead at this point. Find out in Episode 11!) We also learn that Kenny has baby arms, like that of a newborn T-Rex.

Criticism and You:

  • What do you do when other's critique your work?
    • Make sure you're absorbing the feedback, regardless.
    • Harsh words and mean spirits don't negate the truth.
      • Be self aware and humble enough to take criticism.
    • Analyze, are they a troll, or just rude?
    • Be careful how you respond; think before you act.
    • "I'm not concerned with whether your critics can sleep at night, I'm concerned with whether you can sleep at night." - James
The guys take a mid-show break with a fantastic product of Taco-Bell's finest food-mancers, the Naked Chicken Chalupa. Now antibiotic free!

WordCamp Breakdown:

  • Conference season is here.
    • How can you get the most out of your experience as a business owner, freelancer, etc.?
    • Increasing a conference's value for a business.
    • What IS a hallway track??
    • Go in with a plan.
    • Be strategic and network with a purpose.
  • If you are sponsoring a WordCamp, take it seriously.
    • Are you trying to raise brand awareness, launch a product, or revitalize interest in your offerings?
    • Don't be a swag robot...unless you are Swagbot 9,000.
    • Leave your options open, there are other ways to raise awareness.
    • Trade time...or in Kenny's case, dignity for money.
      • Grassroots/Guerilla Marketing
      • The superhero origin of the Kenatee.
    • Why the WP Ninjas won't be sponsoring as avidly in 2016.
    • Sunglasses and T-shirts are a wonderful method of marketing.
      • T-shirts are potential expensive, branded sunglasses much less so
      • Make sure your logo is prominently displayed on the back!
  • Don't be afraid to approach new people.
    • Implant yourself in a group.
    • People in the WordPress community are generally super inviting.
    • Look for the relationships that bring synergy to you & the companies you are trying to connect with.
AIB then signs off with a 'If Kenny were president, what would be his top five executive orders signed off day one?'
Special thanks to the CrashJonesBand for providing us with our theme music. No One Can Tell You How To Live by CrashJonesBand
Feb 3, 2017
This week AIB starts with four lightning rounds of Jelly Belly's ‘BeanBoozled’. (Spoiler: it takes no prisoners...except for Jon, who got out scot-free.) As the crew washes out their BeanBoozled mouthes with whiskey, they inquire, "how are those New Years goals coming along?" Then, for a bit of potential instant gratification and group accountability, the group establishes 7 day goals on the spot. All to be followed up on in episode 10. Finally, before the main event, AIB gets sponsored by Canada herself! Itself?

Firing customers:

  • What kind of customers should you be firing?
  • When you start your business you’ll take any customer.
    • One toxin customer can bring your business down.
    • At what point is it not worth it?
  • Invest time and energy into loyal customers.
    • To do that, identify what type customer each person is.
  • How exactly do you identify the tares from the wheat of customers?
  • When should you fire?
    • When they become unreasonable unprofessional.
    • When they breach ethical or moral behavior.
  • Think of every person and why they behave that way.
    • “Hurt people, hurt people.”
    • Put yourself in their shoes.
  • Give first offenders the benefit of the doubt.
    • You’ll find that most people will apologize or feel guilty after being verbally abusive.
    • They often just want to be heard and empathized with.
  • Fire customers when they become a drain on your resources.
  • At some point you have to acknowledge that, “We may not be the right fit for you.”
  • How do you deal with it.
    • Be candid, polite, and thorough with each interaction, as you consider firing a toxic customer.
  • Jon shares his first experience in considering firing a customer.
  • You want to go above and beyond for your users.
    • Sometimes customers request things that just aren’t possible with your product.
    • You don’t necessarily want to fire them, but you may have a better solution for them.
    • That solution may not be connected to you product and ecosystem.
The main topic gets interrupted with “Kenny’s Breaking News”! Also...a random, brief debate of an old pickle idiom breaks out. BeanBoozled Treehouse Code School JavaScript.com Bear Note Application Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast The Origin of the 'In a Pickle' phrase
Special thanks to the CrashJonesBand for providing us with our theme music. No One Can Tell You How To Live by CrashJonesBand
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