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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: August, 2018
Aug 22, 2018

Introduction

When the James is away, the rest of the hosts of AIB will play. In a very strange turn of events, James is the only host missing from this episode. That’s right, there’s a Jeremy, but not a James. In his absence, the hosts decide to create a Jamesisode, or an episode dedicated to James. What follows is a bit weird and unconventional. Especially the intro.

The Show

To kick off the Jamesisode, Rob asks the hosts what they did with James this week. Jeremy’s been in Dubai, so he didn’t do anything with James. Kevin continued to fire James from working on their new Ninja Shop project. Rob asks everyone how they met James. Jeremy talks about how he came to the church that James was pastoring at the local movie theatre. His family visited, and he thought James was great. Kevin met James at a different church where James was the assistant pastor. They got to know each other, became best friends, and tried starting lots of different businesses. Rob tells a story about how he met James at Bonlife, the local coffee shop that James now owns. James sat at the same table everyday and eventually Rob began talking to him about business stuff. With the How I Met Your James portion out of the way, the hosts discuss an experience at a local business and some of the lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from it. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t a great experience. The hosts bring out a few points:
  • It’s easy to muddle your vision when you are starting your business. Even if you start with a great concept, it can be tempting to enlarge your vision to the point of dilution.
  • If your business has a retail component, make sure that your space is appropriate for your needs. Having a space that’s too large or too small will harm your business.
  • Make sure that your core competency as a business comes through to your customers.

Our Recommendations

In a very Jeremy move, he recommends that you buy a Tesla. But not just that, he recommends that you use his special offer code to get you free charging for life. (Jeremy insisted that I put the bold on there.) Kevin recommends getting a James as a best friend. But you can’t have the James James. That one’s already taken. Find another James. I guess. Rob’s tip and trick is to get a Pop Socket. No, that’s not a dislocated hip or shoulder. It’s a cool newfangled handle for your smartphone. It sits on the back of your phone and telescopes outward to make a handle or a stand if you want one. Rob’s into all the cool kid trends.
Aug 14, 2018

Introduction

It might come as a shock to you, dear listener, but Jeremy of Jeremy Moore presents Jeremy Moore’s Adventures in Businessing with Jeremy Moore is on vacation. Again. The remaining hosts spend the opening of the episode commenting on Jeremy’s apparent mid-life crisis. He sold his business, bought a Tesla, and is taking a trip around the world without his family. I mean, it does sound like a mid-life crisis. Rob, Kevin, and James have a good laugh at Jeremy’s expense, but to be fair, he could have rebutted had he not been on his Rumschpringe.

The Show

In this episode, the hosts, minus Jeremy, discuss how to handle competitors. Rob regales us with the tail of two competitors: one he has loved, and one he has hated. Or, more correctly, one tolerates him with a modicum of professionalism, while the other is openly hostile, going as far as to warn possible clients not to use his services. He suggests that you should always deal with competition in a professional manner, and proves how professional he his by not giving the name of the local competitor that hates him. James and Kevin talk about how different competition is within the WordPress space. Apparently, they are friends with most of the forms businesses within their space. James even points out that Kevin is wearing one of their competitors’ t-shirts. All three regular hosts agree that you should focus on your own business, while keeping an eye on competitors. Kevin gives the analogy of driving a car: you have to keep your eyes forward to see where you’re going, but you always glance up in the rearview or side mirrors every so often. Treat your competition like they are your mirrors.

Our Recommendations

James wants you to use an app to help your kids learn to do chores around the house. Chore Monster helps you gamify the act of doing chores. Children can do chores for a chance to spin a wheel, earn monsters, win prizes, or earn toys. Man. These kids have it so easy. When I was a kid the only Chore Monster was my mom as the threatened to beat me with a belt if I didn’t do my chores. Rob’s tip is to cancel your Movie Pass if you haven’t already. He tells the story about how he once spent a few weeks sending faxes and reports to an empty building. He’s moved on to the AMC monthly movie pass. You might want to buy some Movie Pass stock, though. Rob thinks that it might rebound enough to make you some money. Kevin recommends that you listen to a show that Rob is often on called Man Up America. In case you didn’t know, Kevin is a pretty liberal guy, while the hosts of Man Up America have fairly conservative viewpoints. He claims that he doesn’t actually agree with the hosts on many issues, but enjoys the fact that they try to have an honest and intellectual debate. I wonder what that feels like? Anyone know of a show that needs someone to write show notes?
Aug 1, 2018

Introduction

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Rob is not on this episode of AIB. Through some misalignment of the stars, Jeremy is actually present, however, and so the show must go on. Rob’s absence must have flustered the group, because they skipped the witty banter about what happened in their week that usually opens an episode. I guess you’ll have to just skip to the next section and miss my snarky remarks about their introduction.

The Show

Today our hosts discuss what it takes to create wow experiences for customers. Maybe they should have started with something like, “How to create wow experiences for podcast listeners,” because they definitely haven’t figured that one out yet. Without Rob’s dulcet tones elucidating the audience with a story, James, Jeremy, and Kevin get the point rather quickly. I don’t know how to feel about the lack of Rob-story. The thought that I actually missed them on this episode makes me think that I’m suffering from some kind of Stockholm syndrome. If you’re out there, reading this, send help. Regardless of the business that you’re running, the hosts suggest, you can create positive experiences for your customers that can help them become rabid fans. They point to examples like Google and Apple, who tend to put time into the little things, like the product packaging, as well as the product itself. Jeremy relates a story, although not as well as Rob would have, about how Delta picked him up in a Porsche to help him make his connecting flight. That felt more like a humble brag than advice for how to create raving fans. Kevin suggests that the most remarkable customer service experiences he’s had are when businesses pay attention to the small details. TL:DR - Thoughtfulness is all it takes to create wow moments for your customers. Make use of small opportunities, especially those opportunities that aren’t very costly, like sending a handwritten note.

Our Recommendations

Last time, Kevin recommended a website to learn development called CodeCademy.com. Today he follows up that with a recommendation for another learning resource called Udemy.com. We get it. You want people to learn development. Sheesh. Can you come up with something original already? Do you believe in magic? Because James does. He clarifies that he doesn’t believe in voodoo magic, or spells, but sleight of hand and various mundane tricks. As he’s gotten back into learning new sleight of hand techniques and card tricks, James has realised that he can apply things to his businesses. For example, magicians don’t use the word distraction. Instead, they talk about attention management. I want to make fun of James for all this, but it kind of takes care of itself. Jeremy likes to have lots of cars at once. He especially likes new cars, and his recommendation is for a subscription that lets him get new cars more often. Volvo recently rolled out a program that allows you to lease a car for one to two years. The payment includes insurance, and you can trade the car in for a new one at the end of the term; think of it like a cell phone plan for cars.
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