Too many entrepreneurs confuse “needs” with “wants”. They think they need fancy offices with expensive furniture in the lobby, fully-stocked kitchens with the best products, or decked out company cars and other status symbols. Don’t be like them. As an entrepreneur, it can be tempting to buy 5,000 shirts with your logo right away. Don’t do it. Focus on what’s important, and scale along the way. You don’t need to be Facebook, Apple, or Google in the first year. Take time to develop what matters.
An interesting post at NYT Who's the Boss? blog highlighted a negotiation technique that AGi found interesting for cutting to the core of a negotiation:
The idea is simple: When counter parties express grief over a perceived shortcoming of yours, ask point-blank whether the issue will make it impossible to work out a deal.
Strip-lining calls their bluff by providing them with an opportunity to kill the conversation right then and there. Often, the prospect will concede that this is not a make-or-break issue, allowing the concern to be dropped and the conversation to move forward. If the issue is make-or-break, it clarifies their priorities and allows you to decide if you want to seek a solution or move on.
A commenter expresses a similar technique has been helpful for them:
I work in advertising at an agency and have used a similar tactic many times with clients. If I'm pitching creative, which means showing a client mock ups of potential ads we've made, and I'm really getting beat up, I'll offer to kill the whole ad right there and go back to the drawing board. Almost every time the client will resist and switch their position to arguing for the ad rather than trashing it. At this point we can usually agree on a couple small tweaks and then get it approved. I never thought of this as strip lining but it is quite similar.
Clearly not of use or even appropriate in every scenario, but perhaps helpful when communications appear to have stalled.
A recent human interest story with the Orange County Register caught our interest here at AGi. The piece profiles the architecture firm Development One and its CEO, J. Bruce Camino.
Describe Camino's rise from fledgling contractor to a successful principle, the piece also contained four helpful tips that would be of use for anyone considering becoming a government contractor:
- Connect through the SBA, utilize their resources.
- Be prepared to navigate the red tape.
- Be patient.
- Distinguish yourself.
Read the full story at ArcaMax.
The mission of the National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) is to transition Veterans into business owners. The goal of VETS2014 is to build capacity in the Veteran and Service-disabled Veteran-owned small business community to help the Federal government and large business prime contractors meet and exceed the mandated goals. The NVSBC is pleased to again join forces with AetherQuest Solutions, a Veteran-owned small business, to host VETS2014 in Reno, Nevada, June 16-19, 2014.
For more information, visit their website.
Companies have protested more Army contract awards in the last 18 months than any other Defense Department agency’s awards, and the Veterans Affairs Department tops the list as the most protested non-Defense agency....
"...according to an analysis by the open data supporters at GovTribe." Interesting discussion of contract award notices over at Next Gov.
A graphic depicting the discrenpancies:
