Steve Kaplan - Be the Elephant: Build a Bigger, Better Business

BUILD A BIGGER, BETTER BUSINESS

BY STEVE KAPLAN

Workman Publishing, New York

Copyright 2006 by Steve Kaplan

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

eISBN: 9780761153788

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Design by Paul Gamarello
Photography by Steve Grubman

Author Steve Kaplan may be contacted at 773-332-7365
www.stevekaplanlive.com

Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
www.workman.com

Dedication

To every entrepreneur and salesperson, working endless hours in pursuit of your dreams: Remember, success can be right around the cornerkeep your eyes open.

To Andi: for your support and love.

To Ryan: You continue to make me proud every single day.

To Madison (a.k.a. Mouse): Always follow your heart and pursue your passions.

To my parents, Ila, Jerry, JB, Lourdes, Joe, and Ferne: for your love and support through the years.

To Brendi and Nanci: Thank you for always being there for me. I think well always be upstairs, getting ready to go out, making fun of each other.

To my nieces and nephews, Alex, Samantha, Zach, Nicky, Emily, Sean, and Meghan: Your time is coming.

To Paul, Jeff, Heidi, and Ross: You guys round out the asylum.

To my friends, who have been in my life for so long: Through all the crazy times, to years of playing sports, careers and families, weve remained close and are always there for each other during good times and bad. Youve made the ride more than amazing, and I love you all.

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Youre the owner of an e-commerce business. Youve made it over the second-year hump and are poised to break out, but youre unsure about which strategy is best to grow your business. You dont have a ton of money, so you need to make the right growth decision the first time. One misstep will kill your momentum.

You run a three-person gourmet cookie company with a few corporate customers that take up most of your time. With such a small customer and employee base, youre understandably nervous. You know that you need to grow, but how to start the process without upending your existing business? Implementing a growth strategy might upset your large customers, prompting them to move along to that next cookie. And you do not want to be left with crumbs.

Youre a sales professional, selling mortgages. Youre doing pretty well and have great relationships with many of your clients. You know that if you had more things to sell them, it would be a cakewalk, but youre not sure how to develop new offerings, especially ones they will prepay for.

Youre the senior partner in a CPA firm. Youve always been motivated by a desire to become the best CPA you can be. You want your work to matter, to be recognized for its quality and superiority. Youre great at your job, but youve neglected the business end of your business, and your client base is shrinking. Now you see the need to grow, but the resources available to you dont offer an obvious path to growth.

You own a $50 million consulting business. Youve been cruising along, selling the same service for years. A few years back, you tried expanding your services into new markets, but the extra duties and responsibilities took your employees attention away from your core clientele and the effort failed, almost costing you your business. Youre doing okay now, but you dont want to work like a dog forever.

Youre a partner in a marketing firm thats been doing steady business for a few years. Youre not growing, but thats all right, because you dont want the worries of a larger business. Besides, you wouldnt know what to do to get bigger. Youre okay with the status quo for now. Yet you cant help being a little worried, because youve seen many other businesses like yours cruise along at treetop level for years and then crash and burn. All it took was a brief financial stumble, and the owners were unable to adapt or compensate.

If you can identify with any of these people, this books for you. You realize that your business is living pretty close to the edge. You dont have much flexibility or reserve. Yes, you may be spared the giant problems of giant companies, but the anxieties and stresses of eking out profits and growth in your business, at its current size, are hardly a blessing. Youre worried about Incredible Shrinking Business Syndrome. You also fret that youll never make the big bucks youve dreamed of. But just thinking about growing gives you the jitters. Rock and a hard place.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you remember what older, wiser capitalists have told you: In business, theres no standing still. Avoiding growth goes against the laws of nature; youre either growing or dying, yet finding a niche and managing to operate there happily ever after is riddled with risk. A recession, a new technology, even a miscalculation or a sudden illness can lead to a quick demise.

Okay, so slow and steady isnt as good a long-term growth strategy as you thought. You can see that a larger, broader-based business would give you more security in the long run, and thats your ultimate goal. And, hey, when you think about it, you actually enjoy the challenge of expanding a business, upping the ante, looking for the next big thing, and making a pile of money along the way. For you, theres nothing like the sheer joy of stomping on the gas and feeling your business lay a little rubber.

And when you really think about it, when youre really honest with yourself, most of you (including me) have to admit that you want to be big. Youd like to be out in front of the pack, with all the money, power, and recognition that goes with the lead. You itch to be rich and have the freedom to do what you wantand this small business isnt doing it for you.

If you were content, you wouldnt be reading this book. Like most business owners, you want to grow. How fortunatebecause youre the person I wrote this book for.

Almost every business I come across has the potential for substantial growth; most of their operators just dont know how to get there. A few owners are most comfortable with an operation in which they know all their employees, the financial winds are light to moderate, and they can take the family on vacation for a few weeks and not worry about what Warren Buffett thinks. But the vast majority want to look in the mirror and see an Elephant.

What sort of elephant are you?