BizStratBlog2

Eyes on being on top

Rochester is number 6 - and it's not at something like making Sauerkraut (Phelps has the Sauerkraut distinction).  According to the most recent issue of Places Rated Almanac Rochester is the #6 best place in the country to live, based on ambience, housing, the local economy, transportation, education, health care, crime, recreation and climate.

I think part of the reason we placed so high is that Rochester people care about their city.  In fact, a group of Rochester CEOs and owner organizations have gotten together to look at how we can boost our ranking even more.  The Eyes on the Future panel discussion will bring top site selectors, managers of growing cities, and business people together to determine our best advantages - and what we can do to take those and help us grow the Rochester area economy.

Sponsored by Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Small Business Council of Rochester - the Eyes on the Future conference will be held June 12th from 8:30am to 10:30 at St. John Fisher College.  For members of the RBA, GRE, SBC and for many college faculty and students the conference will be free.  If you are not a member there is a $25+ S&H + Tax fee for attending.

I have participated in organizing a lot of events - but this one stands out.  One of a series of excellent events put on by the SBC as part of it's 25 year anniversary - this event will be "not to miss."

To register for the event go to the website at www.eyesonthefuture.biz.  You can register online, and you can suggest questions to ask of our panelists at the event.  You will not want to miss this one. In future blog articles we'll explore the background of some of the panelists, and see what is special about Rochester.

- Lee Drake

Proud of Rochester - Proud of Wegmans

On April 15th, 2007 the Food Network held their 2007 Food Network awards featuring chef Emeril Legasse.  Awards were handed out in many categories, but the one that touches closest to home was the SUPER Market award given to the best grocery market chain in the US.  The winner?  Who else could it be but Wegman's Supermarkets.  In Rochester we tend to dwell lately on our past - and how that's affected us to the negative.  But lets look for a moment towards the future.

Wegmans is without a doubt (and now backed up by a Food Channel Award to prove it) one of the best modern examples of how you can take a ho-hum industry (grocery stores) and turn it into a customer service experience.  And again, without a doubt, Wegmans is another Rochester home-grown success, just like Kodak, Xerox and Bausch and Lomb were in their days. 

I know for a fact that companies whose job it is to promote our region like Greater Rochester Enterprise tout this region as a hotbed of entrepreneurialism and list Wegmans as a great reason to relocate here.

So why don't we crow about ourselves more often? What is it about Rochesterians that seems to always concentrate on the downside of living in Rochester, rather than the numerous upsides?  We are a community that takes chances - and sometimes those chances succeed, and other times fail. 

We bought a ferry - it didn't work out, but we took the chance to see if it would. We have one of the worlds largest distributors of wine and liquor in our backyard (Canandaigua) - Constellation Brands. Do you think that could have been developed without a strong core of Rochester's entrepreneurs?  Richard Sands was raised in an environment where he firmly believed anything was possible - and he made it happen. We're currently dabbling in development of fuel cell technology, biomedical research, and other up and coming technologies.

We are a community that makes things work - despite the obstacles that NYS, or taxes, or downsizing businesses put in our way.

- Lee Drake, CEO, OS-Cubed

Taming The E-mail Beast

E-mail is the best thing to happen to business communication since the invention of the telephone, right? If you are like most business people, the answer is a resounding, "no!"

The problem with e-mail, according to authors David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, is that "e-mail spread so fast... and no one knew how to use, or not, it." To combat the problem, the two have written a book called, "Send: The Essential Guide to E-mail for Office and Home."

The main issues with e-mail (in my opinion) are that it 1) is on 24/7; 2) feeds upon itself; 3) is insidious in the tentacles it spreads in the in box -- one single e-mail, depending on how many individuals it is forwarded to multiplies exponentially without your ever having hit the "send" button.

To gain control of your inbox you need to start at the beginning. Perhaps dedicate a day or a half a day to simply going through each and every unread message in your inbox. Yes, it's overwhelming but it's the only way to get off to a fresh start. Set a time frame within your mind as to when you will complete the task. If you want a clean inbox by May 1, know that you will have to whittle down the messages in chunks to get to that point.

As Shipley and Schwalbe point out, some inboxes attract upwards of 200 messages a day -- I can attest to that, and for me that is a slow day. Business etiquette -- and perhaps there should be a written policy at your workplace -- is that e-mail is answered in a timely fashion, usually within 48 hours (or less)

Set up folders for e-mail, drag messages into those folders when they come in, but don't think that putting them in a folder makes them "out of sight, out of mind" it simply makes the inbox more manageable. Set up folders that make sense to you such as: pending jobs, meetings, information requests, etc. 

Check back for more ways to tame the in-box beast.

Robbi Hess

Business Strategies to Grow On

It's the end of a grueling week at WME Books. Tom and I were put to our paces at a leadership group headed by Lee Thayer. Lee's a strict task-master, an author, and an all-around serious curmudgeon. Of which he is very proud.

This isn't to talk about Lee - although he is definitely worth talking about. There is enough about Lee in this month's issue of Business Strategies magazine. Check it out...

What I do want to talk about is leadership, and the interesting group of people who attended the two-day training with Tom and me. We had 10 people, all local business professionals or CEOs, including Bruce Peters, the facilitator and Derek VanDerlind, his side-kick. It's interesting to me how many outstanding businesses we have in Rochester. The group at this event were in telecom, coaching, the University system, and more. There were men and women. And all of us were there to learn how to become better leaders.

What is it about becoming a leader that's so hard? Certainly, if you're an entrepreneur - like many of the folks at last week's SOHO event, you have to be prepared to 'lead.' If you have a great idea to help people improve their lives somehow, and you have a product or service to do so, you will end up being a leader. And, if you're chosen (or you volunteer) to lead a team or a committee in your current job, you are a leader.

As I continue to attend these leadership summits and conferences, with their innovative ideas and thought-provoking dialogue, I become more convinced that leaders are made, not born. Even a shy, timid person can become a leader, if he or she wants to. All it takes is dedication, persistence, practice, understanding, and a tough skin.

• You have to be dedicated to your cause.
• You have to be persistent in your approach.
• You have to work at it - practice the right things over and over, and let the wrong things drop away.
• You have to understand the human condition - that everyone is different, no matter how alike they seem. And that each person's perceptions of life will impact how your day goes, or your meeting, or your product launch.
• And, in the end, you have to have a tough skin and a tough ego.

Cause, you'll get knocked down and stomped on from time to time. People will point fingers at you and call you names... right or wrong, it will happen.

If you can't get back up, brush yourself off, and keep moving forward with determination, you might make it. The never give up part is key.

Remain, as Lee would say, in the learning mode. It will serve you well.

Marketing Tips From Jerry

As we, Business Strategies Magazine, come to the end of another successful year at the SOHO (Small Office Home Office Trade Show), I'd like to share some marketing secrets for the benefit of our clients. Here are my top four things to remember to maximize your trade-show efforts:

· Make certain that someone is always staffing your booth and ready to greet visitors. Regardless of how well designed your display may be, it is no substitute for the information that prospective clients can obtain only by interacting with you. 
· Greet each person as you would a guest in your home. Don't jump right in to a sales pitch!

Spring in Rochester

(image courtesy of www.rocpic.com)

According to the calendar it's Spring in Rochester.  According to my thermometer, though, it's still a bit chilly to be rollicking in the sunshine. 

None the less, as Spring rolls around and the Rochester weather warms, it's time to consider again the idea of venturing outside without a coat and enjoying all that Rochester has to offer. 

What are your plans for this year?  Do they involve taking in the lovely Highland Park?  Checking on the Lilac Festival? Or maybe a stroll along Park Avenue?  Maybe a community festival or two?  Wine tasting in the Finger Lakes? Lunch in the courtyard at the Village Gate? Now you can eat outside at Salenas (who just reopened a new, larger and much nicer restaurant), California Rolling and Bodhi's Cafe.  Maybe your idea of fun is a round of golf on one of our world-famous golf courses.  A visit to the South Wedge for some Ice Cream or a stroll along the Genesee?  Maybe a visit to our famous Public Market for some fresh vegetables.

I know for myself just the presence of some sunshine brightens my day.  OS-Cubed has offices with huge windows that face the Memorial Art Gallery campus.  You can see our view from our webcam here.  The sunsets can be spectacular - if the sun sets far enough North to see it :)  I love having the warm sun beating in on us as we work - it makes the whole day seem more positive and upbeat.

So now that spring has sprung - make a list.  What about the Rochester area do you want to do this Spring, Summer and Fall?  Share your list here - maybe someone else will get a great idea from it.

Celebrate Rochester, and revel in the Spring and Summer weather - before it gets dark and snowy again!

- Lee Drake