Tag: Business

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Attention Veterans… “Go start something!”

I spend a lot of time talking with military service members and veterans about what they might do after their time in the service.

Generally speaking, the conversations all have similar themes.

They want to do something important with a mission.  They want to do something that takes advantage of their leadership skills, they want to grow something, and oftentimes they are tired of working for somebody else.

Veterans bring incredible talents to startups.  They are hard-working, smart, driven, determined and armed with just enough naivety (read crazy) that they are not afraid to go start and build a company.  The challenge for many is to come up with a good idea (that has real potential and is scalable) and translate that into action. (Keep thinking… you will find it)

I often recommend that they read Jan Collmer’s book, “Go Start Something”. (Link below)

Jan doing what he loved – flying Airshows in his Extra 300.

Jan was a successful Veteran entrepreneur himself – and a spectacular one.  He founded several successful businesses in the Dallas area and was the Founding Father of the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field.  He also gave thousands of airplane rides to kids inspiring many to go on to a career in STEM.

He wrote his book to help potential entrepreneurs get their mind around starting a company and growing it successfully.  I highly recommend the read to anyone thinking about starting something.

Go start something: https://www.amazon.com/Go-Start-Something-Live-Life/dp/1469763699

Frontiers of Flight Museum: https://www.flightmuseum.com/

 

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Requirements

I’ve been working on a few business projects recently which have highlighted again to me the value of taking the time to craft well-defined requirements.

Requirements are the road to solid end-states, and without them, a business or project will meander all over the place trying to find what it needs to get the job done.

So what does a well-defined requirement look like?

The requirement should lay out what the business needs in order to reach its strategic goals and/or end-states.  It should be clear, concise, understandable, and measurable.  The requirement should be “testable” and be nested within your business or corporate strategy.

The format varies, but the need to take some time to properly define, articulate, and communicate your requirements should be a key component of your business strategy and plans.  Don’t forget to take the time to craft some good ones.

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Mad Minute: Integration in your business

Integration in business, or lack thereof, is a significant problem in today’s fast-paced business world.  We see it all the time.

Good companies end up having departments operating in silos and occasionally compete against themselves for the same business.  I recently saw this when a major defense contractor had two specific business units competing for the same piece of work – neither aware of the other.  Needless to say, the EVP was not too happy when she realized how much time and energy they had burned.

CEOs, COOs, and other business leaders need to make it a priority to coordinate, synchronize, and integrate business operations throughout the company.  Establishing a normal meeting rhythm can help with this.

For example, at one of my manufacturing companies, we had a daily 15min standup where we talked about the major lessons learned from the previous 24 hours what was coming up each day.  We held this “standup” on the plant floor and all of our key leaders were present.  It went a long way to ensure that we never let things get too far out of sync.

Ensuring your business is integrated will go a long way towards improving your bottom line and improving senior leader communications.

Dan