Popular Articles

Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

read more
by Andrew Tellijohn
December 2005

Related Article

Update 2

Read more

Resources


Across town, country and culture

Owners can tap resources whatever their location

by Matt Krumrie   More clients, less work. Sounds like a desirable motto for almost every small-business owner.It’s also the name of a monthly conference call that Debra Fisher Goldstein likes to take part in. She’s president and owner of GoldFish Communications in Minneapolis.The “teleforum” is provided through The Gillen Group, led by President Kathy Gillen and based in Dayton, Minnesota. Gillen has 30 years of experience as a business owner and speaker, with a background in psychology and sales.The teleforum is offered free for small-business owners and subscribers to the Gillen Group electronic newsletter on the second Wednesday of every month. It's one example of countless resources available to small-business owners.Fisher Goldstein says the teleforums are a convenient and structured way for her to learn practical methods to improve her business — and it doesn’t matter that participants could be located across the country.“I can participate in the teleforums from my home or office, and there is always a relevant agenda that speaks to my needs,” says Fisher Goldstein. “Plus, I get to hear and share in the challenges of other business owners, as well as share in their ideas and answers.”Back to schoolTechnology is allowing small-business owners to network across the country. But resources are available closer to home, as well.Technical schools in the Twin Cities, for example, are becoming assets to the small-business owner. Recently, St. Paul College implemented an Entrepreneurship AAS and Certificate program, while Rosemount-based Dakota County Technical College launched the Small Business Development CenterThe St. Paul College Entrepreneurship AAS is a 63-credit program where an individual earns a two year Associate of Applied Science degree. The program offers classes geared toward entrepreneurs and includes general business classes, too. The 30-credit certificate focuses on the core business and entrepreneurial classes without the general education courses. The classes are offered day, evening, and online. Saint Paul College is part of the Minnesota State College and University (MnSCU) system.  Joyce LeMay, an instructor and program adviser at St. Paul College, says small-business owners will gain in-depth knowledge on how to grow their business through the program. “They will have an opportunity to network with other small business owners while they are gaining skills and knowledge dealing with their businesses,” says LeMay. “One of the biggest challenges a small-business owner faces is the isolation of being on their own. The program at Saint Paul College allows small-business owners to connect with other small-business owners to reduce the isolation.”Dakota County Technical College’s small-business development center offers free individual business consultation to pre-venture clients as well as existing businesses with up to 500 employees. The center is sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the University of St. Thomas. Day and evening appointments are available for tips on marketing, business planning, accounting, sales, human resources, financing, inventory management, and more, says Christine Pigsley, associate dean of business and entrepreneurship.“It’s a great way to talk about everyday issues, real-life issues with people who understand the ups and downs of being a small-business owner,” says Pigsley. “And it’s free. We can help them with our resources and we have an extensive list of other resources and contacts that can help them with a problem, help them find information, and get the answers and information they need.”Combining culturesTechnology isn’t the only thing making the world smaller: People are, too. According to the U.S. Census 2000 by the year 2008, an estimated 70 percent of new entrants to the workforce will be women and people of color. In that same census one out of every four Americans identified themselves as a member of a minority group, compared with one in five 10 years ago. Many small-business owners don’t have experience with a diverse workforce, says Lila Kelly, of St. Paul-based Lila Kelly Associates Diversity & Hiring Strategies. Her firm offers services to help, including diversity training seminars and classes, and a four-month course on managing a diverse workforce.Kelly can also assist small businesses with developing a structured recruitment and hiring processes, including structured interview questions. She also oversees a diversity discussion group, which isn't just for small-business owners but for people of all background.“Cultural competencies are not something that you can learn in a four-hour diversity training,” says Kelly. “They are developed through a lot of hard work, just like other skills and abilities that you need to develop to be successful. Diversity is the way of the future and there’s no turning back.  If you want to be successful, working to become culturally competent is one way to get ahead.”Another resource is within every company’s own doors. When business owners look for help they often underestimate the people they lead, says Brian McDermott, co-owner of Maple Grove-based GrowthWorks Inc., a training, facilitation and consulting company that helps leaders and owners create great places to work.“Magic happens in the workplace when people get a chance to do what they are good at and what they care about — especially when you invite them to do work that really matters,” says McDermott. He co-wrote, with GrowthWorks Inc. co-owner Gerry Sexton, the book Leading Innovation: Creating Workplaces Where People Excel So Organizations Thrive (NovaVista, October 2004).He also co-wrote with Don Luce Time Out for Leaders: Daily Inspiration for Maximum Impact (NovaVista, March 2005).One effective way for small-business owners to find creative help to deal with challenges and opportunities is to tap into that talent and passion, says McDermott. The people doing the day-to-day work often have insights about what it will take to make their efforts more effective and to make their organizations more successful. But for some reason, business leaders and owners either don’t think to ask, or don’t hear or believe in what employees say, says McDermott.He once saw one of the most powerful examples of this phenomenon when he and a business partner asked 60 managers in a $500-million division of a high-tech client company to conduct a walk-around survey as part of a strategic leadership process they facilitated for them. They sent them out into their headquarters to get an instant read on some work-climate issues. The first question they had them ask employees was, “Do you believe the average employee in this company has ideas that could help make us more successful?” The second question was, “Do you believe the average employee is regularly asked to contribute ideas to make this company more successful?”The managers plotted their responses one at a time on a bar chart at the front of the room as they returned to the meeting space. It didn’t take long for them to recognize a gap, McDermott says.More than 95 percent of those surveyed said they believed the average employee had ideas to help make the company more successful, but more than 95 percent also said they were not regularly asked to contribute those ideas. “That is a huge missed opportunity in businesses of all sizes,” says McDermott.

[contact] Kathy Gillen, The Gillen Group: 763.241.8010; kathy@gillengroup.com; www.gillengroup.com. Debra Fisher Goldstein, GoldFish Communications: 612.371.4501; debra@goldfishcommunications.com. Lila Kelly, Lila Kelly Associates Diversity & Hiring Strategies: 651.636.0455, lilakelly1@aol.com, www.lilakelly.com. Joyce LeMay, Saint Paul College: 651.846.1439; joyce.lemay@saintpaul.edu; www.saintpaul.edu. Brian McDermott, GrowthWorks Inc.: 763.420.5685; bmcdermott@growthworksinc.com www.growthworksinc.com