Christopher V. Flett

Do you believe?

We never claimed to be perfect,
That means we’ve learned to be humble.
We say excuse me and I’m sorry…as well as please and thanks,
Even when its not our fault we apologize.
Sure one arm of the torch didn’t rise,
But when the earthquake struck Haiti, Canadians raised their hands to
say…”We’ll help.”
And yah, there is a fence around the torch,
But you can walk right up and shake hands with our prime minister and most
famous Canadians.
We put Gretzky in the back of a pick up, in the rain, not surrounded by
police…and he was okay,
And by the way… the great one is Canadian…and HE wasn’t complaining!
We do have security at the games, of course, but most people don’t even have
a gun they have to leave at home.
The medals ARE under lock and key, but our doors and our hearts are open to
the world.
It has been pointed out that some buses broke down last week…but let’s not
overlook the fact that our banking system didn’t.
We didn’t get the “green ice maker” right this time…but we will,
eventually,
Just like we did when we invented the zamboni.
Citius altius fortius
If you don’t reach higher how do you get faster and stronger?
Was the first quad jump perfect?
Should we not have given snowboarding to the world “in case” it didn’t take
off?
So big deal…one out of four torch arms didn’t rise. Good thing we had
three more! It’s called contingency planning!
But remember…the Canadarm works every time…in outerspace…and insulin
turned out to be okay.
We couldn’t change the weather, but maybe we can help to stop global
warming.
We don’t have the tax base of the US or the power of the Chinese but, per
capita, we ponied up for some pretty kick-ass venues in the worst global
recession ever.
Sure, some folks couldn’t afford tickets, but our health care is universal.
We have shown the world that we can raise our voices in celebration and
song, but moments later stand in silence to respect a tragic
event…together…

South Beach, Florida is somewhere that feels right for me. I’ve written two books there and as soon as I get of the plane at MIA, it seems that I breath deeper, clarity increases, and I’m ready to create something. When I first started Think Tank Communications, I used to work seven days a week. After a year of that, I was running on empty. We took a week off and it was the best thing I could have done. I had time to clear my head, put things in perspective, and have a breather.

I normally take 1-3 months off each year for mini-vacations/time away to think. Last year, I didn’t really take time out and by the end of 2009, I was really needing some time off. With the Olympics coming, there is no better time to escape Vancouver. Long story short, I’m going to take 4-6 weeks off to hit Florida for some quick business meetings, and then on to Barbados. There is nothing like getting out of your regular environment and getting perspective. It’s likely I’m going to sneak back a bit early to do some work in Seattle with a new colleague, but still, time in a hammock does the body good.

I’m curious. Where do you go to take some time off?

C/

Okay. I’m up at 1AM watching Dragon’s Den on PVR. I am dying here. I wasn’t going to blog about this, but it is driving me nuts. Sister’s Secret. The king of restaurants offers them $50,000 for 50% and he will likely put it in every one of his 100+ stores. Every dragon tells them to take the deal. They counter him…at 40%. He pulls the deal. It isn’t all about money folks. They should have given him 50% of the company just for the fucking contacts and distribution he has. Greedy, greedy little piggies.

Next up: Gocky

Like these guys a lot. Cool guy and you can see that the dragon’s are eating this idea up. Valuation is way too high. They have modest orders. Things like this are too hard to get market penetration with. Jim is the hottest Dragon on the panel because of how big his reach is (restaurants), hockey leagues, etc. The ROI is difficult hence them getting the bum rush. Plus, ministers don’t know how to make money.

Next up: The Maggie Dress

Valuation for this company is really good. Excellent idea, especially for women travelling. $130 price point is quite good. She’s done $80K worth of business in a month. I would be ALL OVER THIS deal. She did $43K in one day on the shopping channel. She could see if there is a patent opportunity here for her to license out the design. They could sell multiples (color) to each woman. When Jim offers her 75K for 25%, she says, “I don’t know what to say.” Goes to show that because you are good at doing something doesn’t mean that she is a good business woman. The dragons’ are eating each others lunches on the deal. Arlene tried to scoup it, but the guys are offering more money in hand which has something to say about it. This gal makes the right decision with the guys. Arlene got schooled because she wasn’t vicious enough.

Next up: Himac

Guy’s a retard. $10M valuation. Snake oil salesman. He’s already selling it for $18/bottle. He thinks his company will be worth $100M. Kevin is hilarious. The guy is crazy. Hands them a photocopy (a book) to support his claims. Robert: “I don’t think you are crazy, but you disgust me.” Love it. I was hoping Jim would pull out the cop ass whop and bring it.

Next up: Buy it now button

Dumb.

Next up: CanLets Time Bank

Sucks, but quotation of the night: Kevin: “I’ll give you a hundred grand if you burst into flames.”

Next up: MacKenzie & Marr Guitars

Fair evaluation. Pretty good presentation. Give Kevin a chance to play it. Blindfold is good. People need to play guitars to know why they want to buy it. If they did some type of Zappos.com service guarantee where people could return it if they didn’t like it. It’s a good idea to watch what Arlene (the marketer) does. She is in the business of selling things. Where the magic is, is if Brett (who was dating Sarah McLaughlin) gets her or someone in show business to endorse it. The dragons offer a very good deal. They two guys get fucking greedy and nearly talk themselves out of a deal over a 3% royalty spead. Everyone is worried about royalties, not realizing that nothing from nothing is nothing and it will take a lot of effort to build that business out.

This show kills me because there are a lot of stupid people out there who blow deals because what they think they have and what they really have are very far away.

I’m looking at scaling up a lot of the projects I have been involved with in the last quarter of 2009. The upcoming launch of Campus CEO – Vancouver, Glass Ceiling Solutions, and the continued building of Simple Bookkeeping, and Lullaby League, To ramp up my interests this year, I’m looking at bringing on a couple of part-time assistants in Seattle. They will handle some of my PR, admin, business development support, et al. I put a post up on Craig’s List and was inundated with resumes. I would guess I got 400+ but was surprised at how many didn’t follow the directions (i.e. Cover letter and salary expectations). Those that didn’t do that were immediately allocated to the “G” file.

Having the right people is the foundation of any big business push. We had an amazing year at the Ghost CEO in 2009 and now with the other companies, I see how everything is nicely gelling together and it’s time to build up. It’s my belief that there are two types of people in a business: those that cost a company money (researchers, administrators, accountants) and those that make a company money (sales people, marketing professionals, publicists, etc.) I like keeping salaries modest and ’stars’ get bonused out (i.e. and assistant that refers some business to the company gets some ‘love’ in return).

From the resumes I received in the Seattle market, I saw my first glimpse of the difference on either side of the border. In Canada, I have young interns wanting $36-$45K to start as an assistant. I have ex-VP’s of marketing for known companies asking for $12-$15/hour and willing to start at $12 to show their value. For Canadian companies doing business in the US and with technology at the level it is at (Skype, Blackberry, cloud computing, etc), you can have employees/contractors anywhere and everywhere. I’ll be hosting interviews the week of January 11th when I’m in Seattle and hope to find one or two, or even three stars to try out for three months and see who can make money, rather than being an expense. Have a read through my listing on Craig’s List so you can see what I am asking for.

NOTE: I’m going to shift this blog a bit in 2010. What was once my ‘rant’ spot will now also house my building of these new companies (plus more I’m sure) and talking about how I’m doing it. People who want to grow business don’t know where to go to see how people do it; those that do it hide how they do it (thinking that it offers them protection.) This will be my professional journal outlining what I’m working on, how I’m doing it, what I’m hitting and what I’m shitting. In any business, there is a hockey stick moment. Think of the shape in your head. It is a flat blade that then takes a serious jet upwards and continues up. That’s where I am with these companies. I have foundation all laid out and now it’s time to ‘hockey stick’ up revenues for 2010. My goal is to take an already impressive cashflow and quadruple revenues in the next 12 months. Easy to do for the new companies (nothing from nothing is…nothing), but a little more difficult for the companies like 2020 Communications, Ghost CEO, and others already on a serious revenue path. Hell, I’m even considering getting into the ‘internship”, “fashion”, and “tea” businesses. It will prove to be a bumpy, but entertaining year. Oh, did I mention I’m working on a new book and spending over half the year outside the country?

If you have questions, please post them on this blog rather than by email. If we are going to do this together, we are going to learn together.

To you and yours…a profitable and sustainable 2010.

C/

I had breakfast with a colleague yesterday and she shared a saying her dad had. “You don’t just have to have a head for business. You have to have a stomach for business too.”

Isn’t this true? It’s one thing to keep your head in the game when you get thrown a curve ball, but it’s another to have the constitution to do what it takes to manage it when it happens. Too often, owners stick their heads in the sand and pretend that the problem is going to go away. It rarely does. It’s like wishing away cancer. You need to dig down deep and find the personal fortitude to march forward, through the shit, and make magic happen. When clients need to make a tough call, I hear them say, “Oh…this makes me feel sick.” That’s an emotional response, not a physical one. You feel sick because you are psyching yourself up, worrying about the outcome. People, business isn’t personal. It is a a simple transaction that gets screwed up by people creating personal relationships out of professional connections.

In a soon to be published rant about tardiness, I will talk about setting rules and boundaries for those you work with. When people feel sick about a decision, it’s because they have allowed someone to overstep a boundary that likely wasn’t identified. When rules and boundaries are in place, if someone oversteps your boundary, to take the agreed upon course of action. If you are late for me, I leave. I don’t feel bad about it because I’ve likely told you that I will leave if you are late. It is cause and effect. Here are some of the more common reasons why clients/colleagues feel ’sick’ and my advice to them:

-

“I don’t have any prospects in my funnel and I’m sick to the stomach” ME: “Go get some prospects you dough-hole!”

-

“I have to fire that employee because they are stealing from me”. ME: “You should call the police and throw them in jail. Just firing is letting them off easy.”

-

“I’m really worrying about the upcoming presentation.” ME: “Worst case scenario, you won’t get the work which is what you have right now. Don’t freak yourself out.”

-

If you don’t want to make the tough decisions, then put clear boundaries in place. When people overstep their boundaries, you simply follow the course of action. We have 12 rules clients agree to when they work with a Ghost CEO. If they break any one of the rules, they are fired. Not a hard decision as it is cause and effect. Look at the rules you have for others and determine if your feeling sick is really from you not taking the time to ensure everyone understands how to engage with you.