August 2006

A recent edition of Fortune Magazine caught my eye. The cover said that Jack Welch’s (the legendary former chairman of GE) rules for winning “don’t work anymore”, and it went on to tell everyone not to worry because they (the editors of Fortune) had “7 new ones that do [work]”.

Well, every small businessperson can rest comfortably, very comfortably, since the new rules pretty much tell the large companies to emulate the small ones. That is pretty good isn’t it? It’s nice to know that the attributes of small companies are now the envy of the large ones.

Here are the NEW “7 Rules for Success”:

• Agile is best; being big can bite you – technology has reduced the importance of scale. It has significantly leveled the playing field.
  
• Find a niche, create something new. Being the market leader is not the end all and be all. You can control a small part of the market and be very pleased with the financial results.
  
• Customer is king. This is the mantra of the small business. Small business owners personally understand how important each customer is. They know how hard they are to acquire, and they know how hard they are to replace.
  
• Constantly seek new ideas, new ways to do things – change comes hard in the large company where an entire organization with a lot of employees and possibly spread over a large geographic area cannot be as nimble and flexible as a small one where change can occur much more quickly.
  
• Hire passionate people.
  
• Hire a courageous CEO. By definition, the CEO [aka owner] of a small business is courageous. Who else risks it all by starting a business – often with their own funds – and works tirelessly to make it a success.
  
• Have a soul. Large companies can easily become detached from society. Small businesses are fully integrated in their community, not out of any compelling social obligation, but because the community is theirs.

So, for now the tables are turned, and big companies are being told that to be successful they have to emulate the attributes that make small companies great. So, pat yourself on the shoulder and continue being nimble, treating your customers like gold, and having the guts to risk your own money everyday. It is all in the day’s work for the small business owner.

Client Profile – Each month we will highlight an Intelligent Office client to illustrate how they are leveraging our services for their own benefit.

National Association of Women Business Owners –
Long Island Chapter (NAWBO-LI):

As a non-profit organization that promotes and supports women-owned businesses, NAWBO-LI is focused on controlling costs and applying as much of its revenue stream as possible to the goals of the organization rather than its operations.

Enter the Intelligent Office, where we have become the headquarters location for NAWBO-LI. Our staff of receptionists has become NAWBO’s receptionists, and we field their calls, answer the basic questions, mail out new membership packages, and announce and connect incoming phone calls to the various officers and board members – wherever they might be.

With Intelligent Office, NAWBO gets comprehensive phone reception and business support services, and they do so at a cost that is far lower than it would be using their own staff. Now that is smart business!

If you are a woman-owned business and are interested in joining NAWBO-LI, please call Daisy Riva at 516-240-8058, and we will be happy to send you a membership package.

Welcome NAWBO-LI! We are pleased to have you aboard!

Call the Intelligent Office at 866-505-1225 for more information.

"Never miss a call...never miss a beat!"

More to follow in future newsletters!!

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