Dr. Jeff Cornwall is the inaugural Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Cornwall's current research and teaching interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics.

Dr. Jeff Cornwall is the inaugural Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Cornwall's current research and teaching interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics.

eLearning Opportunities

We are excited to announce that our digital educational content company, Entrepreneurial Mind LLC, is partnering with the eLearning platform, Eloquens. Through this new partnership, we can some of our courses directly to individuals wishing to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills.  Our content is usually only available as part of broader certification or other structured programs offered by our partner organizations around the globe.  Through Eloquens, we will be able to offer some of our Entrepreneurship content as stand alone courses.

We have three courses currently available.  We feature them in the righthand column of this site.  You can click on each to learn more about the content offered through each course.

Enjoy!

Five Steps to Secure Social Capital During a Pandemic

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

A myth about entrepreneurs is that we are just a bunch of “lone rangers.” (The Lone Ranger was a fictional former Texas Ranger who went off on his own to fight bad guys). According to the lone ranger myth, the reason we start our own businesses is that we can’t get along with others.  We can’t function in an organizational structure. So we ride off into the wilderness by ourselves to chase down our next deal.

Every myth is based on a bit of truth. Entrepreneurs do tend to have a higher need for independence. There are decades of studies of entrepreneurs that suggest we have a stronger urge to be independent than the average person.  In simple terms, psychologists define the personality trait of independence as preferring to act on one’s own thoughts rather than follow others.

Just because we have the urge to follow our own ideas does not mean we have poor social skills. To the contrary, independent thinking is recognized as an important part of healthy social skills by most psychologists.

In fact, there is a growing body of research suggesting that what is called social capital,  having a strong network of people with knowledge, experience, and wisdom to draw from, is an important determinant of entrepreneurial success.  It can be even more important for many entrepreneurs as the financial capital they need to succeed in business.

Important Sources of Social Capital

What are the sources of social capital for entrepreneurs?

It starts with their family and friends. At first glance it might seem that the social isolation we are all practicing should facilitate a stronger flow of social capital to entrepreneurs.  After all, we are quarantined 24/7 with our family. However, being forced into togetherness is challenging us to find new ways to interact as a family.  Those who have retired often talk about the initial challenges of finding a new rhythm for family life once the retiree is so much more time at home. During our adjustment to everyone being at home, it can become difficult if not impossible for family members to provide the social capital the entrepreneur needs from them.

Another critical source of social capital for entrepreneurs are their mentors, coaches, and advisors. These are the people who help keep entrepreneurs moving ahead and staying “between the rails.”  At this point in my career, one of my greatest joys is serving as a mentor for countless student and alumni entrepreneurs.  I know how important my mentors and advisors were for me when I was a full-time entrepreneur, and hope that I can pay it forward to today’s young entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs also receive vital social capital from their peers, that is, from other entrepreneurs.  This includes industry peers, which is why we are drawn to meet-up groups, trade shows, and industry associations.  These peers help us with the content of our businesses.  It also includes entrepreneurs outside of their industry.  The social capital we get from these entrepreneurs is more about the journey of entrepreneurship and about the challenges of being an entrepreneur, rather than the more technical aspects of building the business.

Staying Connected with Social Capital

Just as raising financial capital for a business takes time and effort, so too does securing the social capital we need.  Here are five steps to ensure that entrepreneurs get the social capital they need to keep their businesses moving ahead during these challenging times:

  1. Intentionality in working from home.  There is an old adage in family business: keep family time for family, and work time for work.  As we adjust to a work-from-home economy, we need to take this advice to heart.  There are many great articles available on how to effectively work from home.  I posted one at this site.
  2. Family support needs structure. It is imperative to create a structure that ensures you can tap into the family support you need for your business. I find that our daily neighborhood walks is when I get the advice and support from Mrs. C. that I so desperately need for my work as a professor and as an entrepreneur.
  3. Mentors reach out regularly. Those of us who have the privilege of being mentors to entrepreneurs need to be intentional about reaching out regularly to touch bases.  Even a quick text or email can go a long way to ensure the entrepreneurs we work with have a life line to us when they need it.  Many of the entrepreneurs I talk with express feeling alone in their struggle to keep their businesses alive.  Remind them that they are not alone.
  4. Set up weekly/monthly Zoom coffee or beers. I have various people who I meet with regularly over a cup of coffee or a beer.  Some are my mentors, some are peers, and others are those who I mentor.  Don’t let these important meetings stop because of the coronavirus.  Create a regular schedule of zoom coffees and/or zoom beers to keep these vital conversations alive.
  5. Peer-based Zoom meetingsWe have an amazing group of alumni entrepreneurs who all meet once a month to talk about their entrepreneurial journeys. Until we can safely meeting as a group, we are moving ahead, same time as always, on Zoom. Is it as good as meeting face-to-face?  No, but it is better than losing this source of social capital.

Even as we seek to stay safe through social isolation, it does not mean that entrepreneurs must become isolated from their critical sources of social capital.

Free Cash Planner for Small Business

Q1sah3oit2govg86wfld fileCash is King, Queen, President for Life, and Master of the Universe for entrepreneurs.  Just ask any of my students!

One of my alums, Ben Cooper, founder of Amplify, is offering a free cash planner tool for small businesses.  What a great gift to help all of us who are navigating the treacherous waters of cash flow during the current crises.

What you’ll get:

  • A Customizable Cash Planner Spreadsheet
  • 8 Training Modules
  • Free Call to Review Results

Thanks, Ben!!

Helpful Habits and Hacks for Working from Home

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The word from Washington (and the word from here in Tennessee, too) is that we better get settled in to working from home for a while longer.  Even though I’ve been doing quite a bit of working from home over the years, it is an adjustment to be only working from home.

So, I reached out to a couple of my alums who have a lot of personal experience in working from home and working as part of a virtual team.

Key Work Habits

Corey Griggs, whose business helps companies build scalable web and mobile applications and integrates disconnected systems, graduated from our program a decade ago. He recently shared in an article at Medium the four work habits he’s developed from his experience working from home:

  1. Have a routine
  2. Keep your space clean
  3. Focus on client communication
  4. Stop working at the end of the day

It is a great read, and offers some good, practical insights for bringing these habits to life.

Corey also suggested a few additional hacks to facilitate successfully work from home:

  1. Stand up for phone calls
  2. Over-the-ear headphones for focus
  3. If you can, use a noise cancelling app that removes background noise from video calls
  4. If you have a client that doesn’t want to see your cat on a Zoom call, show them your name, company, and brand by generating a Zoom virtual background on ScreenBrander
  5. Keep it clean. If you eat, sleep, and work in the same place, you can’t create a balance. Cleanliness reduces stress when there’s less clutter.
  6. Stop working. If you don’t take breaks and separate yourself, you’re going to lose productivity for all of your customers. Recharging when at home is harder when you’re in the same room where you work.
  7. Exercise. I have used the 100 push-ups app and 100 sit-ups app for some quick, efficient exercises
  8. If you get distracted easily using something like the Crispbot app can help

Virtual Teams Done Right

Chris Tompkins, Director of Sales for Rustici Software, graduated from our MBA program in 2009.  Although Rustici is headquartered in Nashville, Chris works remotely from his home in Seattle.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus, the entire Rustici team now works virtually.  Here are tips Chris shared with me about virtual teams:

  1. Work from the Cloud:  “We’re already paperless and serverless,” says Chris.  “All agreements, invoices, POs, etc, are in digital pdf, all systems are ‘in the cloud’ including email and internal tools.  We have nothing in the building that requires someone to be in the office.”  Fortunately, this is not something Rustici put together just to deal with the coronavirus.  They have been working toward this approach for several years.  “I’m proud that our whole company is back to fully-functional speed, within a week of a massive change'” adds Chris.  “Nearly every Rustician feels like we might actually be getting more done day-to-day, myself included.”
  2. Single Best Tool Award:  Slack.  “It’s a place to meet internally, have open-door rooms, converse on a topic, work as a team, and more,” Chris explains.  “If there’s one tool I’d point at, as our key to success right now, it’s slack.  I don’t know how businesses operate without it.”
  3. Video On By Default: “We’ve all got cameras, turn them on by default.  Remove the post it, flip the little cover over, put effort into your back-drop,” Chris advises.  “We’re all performing at work, the video camera provides a stage.  Turn it on, keep it on, even if the other side does not.”
  4. Create Fun Spaces: “We all need to goof-off and bond,” says Chris.  “Everyone does it, so I like to create places for us to burn work time together.  At least the team is getting some value out of the downtime we all need, if we’re sharing that down time with one another.  A successful team needs to create ways to ‘waste time’ and bond.  We’ve created slack channels for The Pets of Rustici, car talk, ‘ping-pong-room,’ and even a standing team video chat running where people can pop-in as they want.  Just because we’re all working remotely does not mean we’re alone, we’re actively working on ways to make sure the human relationship continues to grow, not just our remote productivity.”
  5. The Biggest Challenge: “Scheduled conversations,” Chris admits.  “We’re noticing that we haven’t solved for the casual drop in.  The open video room is one attempt, but Leadership has noticed that the additional step to ‘schedule a call’ means we’re not just walking office to office to organically catch-up, then casually dive into work.  Without this pop-in approach, it makes every interaction feel way more intentional and formal than someone sticking their head into an office, when it looks like someone is free-enough to chat.  Since we can’t visibly really know if someone is heads-down, the way our office doors signal in the building, it’s likely reducing the total number of interactions within the company.”

Humility, Not Guilt

Image by Bluehouse Skis from Pixabay

Over the past few days, I have talked to many business owners whose business is either stable, or even growing.  Many express a sense of guilt over their current success. I get it. The news is full of small businesses failing, and yet they are lucky enough to have a business that is doing okay.

A Sense of Guilt

The coronavirus has not impacted all small businesses in the same way.  Certainly many have been decimated by the sudden shock of the virus to our daily lives.  Here in Franklin, TN, where Mrs. C and I call home, restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, and other “non-essential” businesses have been ordered to close their doors. The owners of these businesses struggle to make it through by offering carryout, delivery, and/or going online.  Anything to keep the lifeblood, that is cash, flowing into their businesses.

On the other hand, some small businesses are holding their own. For various reasons, their business models help insulate them from the ravages of the current economic chaos.  

I would urge these business owners to save their feelings of guilt for things that they have consciously done that are wrong. You did not cause these crises.  You have done nothing wrong.  We need your businesses to succeed. Your businesses will be the foundation of economic growth once we get through the immediate crisis.  Your businesses will help reignite the economy, helping to create jobs and spawn entrepreneurs to create new businesses out of the ashes of this economic disaster.

Be Humble

A good way to frame this is to think of the impact of a tornado. One house can be completely wiped out by the storm, and yet the house next door is completely intact.  Is it because the one whose home was spared had some great foresight to pick their lot over the one next to theirs? Of course not! It is a result of the randomness that is a part of our lives.

So what should these business owners be feeling right now? How should they psychologically process the seemingly randomness of their good fortune while seeing others fail?

I would urge business owners whose businesses are still operational to turn any guilt they have into humility.

Feel humble that out of events that no one could have predicted, you are fortunate enough to have a business model that allows your business to continue.

Remember those entrepreneurs less fortunate than you.  Be humble, feel grateful, and keep moving forward. We need you!

SBA Coronavirus Related Loan Programs

The SBA has two loan programs for small businesses impacted by coronavirus.

Disaster Loans

Small business disaster loans are now available for those businesses impacted by coronavirus.

The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

Apply for these loans directly from the SBA.  You can apply for a disaster loan here.

Bridge Loans

The SBA offers bridge loans to businesses that have an existing relationship with the SBA to help provide quick cash until their disaster loan application gets processed.

Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program allows small businesses who currently have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to access up to $25,000 with less paperwork. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing and can be a term loans or used to bridge the gap while applying for a direct SBA Economic Injury Disaster loan. If a small business has an urgent need for cash while waiting for decision and disbursement on Economic Injury Disaster Loan, they may qualify for an SBA Express Disaster Bridge Loan.

“Mount St. Helens” Recession

Perhaps the recession we are entering into should be called the “Mount St. Helens” Recession.

Mrs. C. suggested this to me on one of our walks this past week.  When she said that the events surrounding the 1980 eruption reminded her of the current state of the world, I knew it was the perfect metaphor for our current and future economic conditions.

A History Lesson

Although us older folks remember the eruption of Mount St. Helens like it was yesterday, many of you were probably not around when this volcano erupted in Washington State forty years ago.

Scientists saw signs that Mount St. Helens was coming to life years before it erupted.  However, concerns heightened in 1980 when the mountain’s activity created thousands of small earthquakes. Then the volcano began to change shape.   The movement of magma upward created a huge bulge on the side of the mountain. As the mountain came to life, it spit out steam and ash.  As the earthquakes and small eruptions intensified, experts predicted an eruption was imminent.  They could not, however, predict the exact time and date.

On May 18, 1980, a massive earthquake from deep within Mount St. Helens caused a huge landslide on the north side of the mountain.  The landslide was followed by a lateral eruption that sent gas, rock, and ash out at over 600 mph, devastating an area of 230 square miles.

The lateral eruption was unusual, so dozens of people who were observing the volcano or just waiting it out in an area they assumed was a safe distance were killed by the blast.

After salvaging much of the lumber leveled by the blast, officials decided to let nature take its course and heal the landscape.  Over the coming years, vegetation grew back, animals returned, and the lakes and rivers that had been choked with mud and debris returned.  For a detailed history of this event, see this link to The History Channel’s website.

The Lessons for Today

As evidence showed that an eruption of the volcano could happen at any time, people were warned or given precautions to take – some listened, some chose not to.

Just as the days, weeks, and years before Mount St. Helens erupted, we had signs that we might face a crisis. Epidemiologists warned of a possible pandemic. Economists insisted that the economic boom that we faced was becoming fragile and unsustainable.  But just as with Mount St. Helens, nobody could have predicted when things would turn, nor the immediate devastation that would result.

The coronavirus pandemic seemed to come out of nowhere.  We were living our lives, planning for our spring breaks, starting new businesses, getting ready for new careers, and then suddenly everything catastrophically changed in what seemed like an instant.

The landscape after the eruption of the volcano looked like a moonscape.  How could it ever return to normal after such devastation?

And yet, it did return.  Not exactly like it was before, but it did return to a thriving ecosystem, and much more quickly that many experts predicted.  It showed the resiliency of nature.

If we let things take their natural course, our society and economy will come back.  Not quite like before.  Hopefully, through all of us working together, it will be a bit better.  Consumers will begin to spend again. Small businesses will start back up. Entrepreneurs will find new opportunities in the ashes of this recession.

A Note of Caution

One of the lessons of Mount St. Helens is that something like its 1980 eruption will come again, if not on that mountain, on one of the string of volcanoes that make up the part of the ring of fire circling the Pacific Ocean that cuts across the Western US.  It may not come for many decades or even centuries, but it will happen again.

My parents and grandparents never forgot the lessons of the Great Depression.  They tried to pass them along, but over the generations, memories faded.  None of us alive today will ever forget these challenging times. But to our grandchildren and grandchildren’s children, the events of 2020 will just be a vague part of history.

Let the wafts of steam that still come out of Mount St. Helen today act as a warning:  sometime in the future, generations to come will also face devastating events in their lives.

But just as nature is resilient, so are we.

Photo credits:  Jeff Cornwall

 

Managing the Message in a Crisis

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Managing the message has never more critical than the times we are now facing.

In this interview, Raminta Lilaitė, co-founder of Blue Oceans PR, offers her insights on managing the message as it relates to the current crises both internally to your staff, and externally to your customers and other stakeholders.  Blue Oceans PR is a firm that offers support in global PR, Digital Marketing and Communications, with specific expertise in crisis management.

EM:  How much information should business owners share with their staff?  Is now a time to be guarded or transparent?

RL:  When a crisis begins, employees need to understand how it will affect their work and the company itself, so it’s the time to be as open as possible. It is important to appoint a person or a team which will be responsible for sharing the information with employees. Staff should receive all mandatory information regarding the critical points and risks of a crisis, how to ensure a safe and responsible environment and how the work will look like from this point.

EM: What are the key steps to communicate with customers in a way that will ensure they stay with you when we all make to the other side of this crisis?

RL: Do not stop fostering relationships with clients, partners and investors. Use various communication channels, such as social networks, just to chat and show that you are responding to the situation. Clients need to understand that in spite of temporary troubles, the company is still in business and you are ready to help and answer any questions. The communication should take place regularly and be available at all times. It is important to stay open about the challenges ahead and how you are prepared to deal with them. Crisis can be a great time to re-communicate your company’s core values.

EM: Most small business owners have never been through anything even close to this crisis.  What are the key mistakes to avoid when communicating with employees, investors, customers and the general public?

RL: Do not ignore the problem. A pandemic will inevitably affect your company and employees, thus talking about security and any foreseen plans during quarantine with clients, employees and partners should be a priority. Everybody needs to know clearly what your business plans are, whether the team will now work remotely or you will temporarily be out of business, how you can be contacted and how you are willing to help the others. This will allow the company to maintain seamless communication and provide clarity in shaping future communications.

Offer your expert advice to the press. While the first instinct in a crisis is to get away from it all, long-built communication efforts should not be suddenly dropped. Do not push the press away – continue talking about your company by fine-tuning your tone, as people need empathy and sensitivity at this moment. A good way to help is by actively offering your comments and company expertise. For example, if you are a virtual educator, offer tips on what to do with children at home, and if you are a private clinic, share insights on health care, etc.

EM: Any other advice?

RL: Give back to your community. There probably are people around you who need help – take a chance to find ways to contribute safely. Perhaps you can provide food aid to those who have returned from abroad and are in compulsory two-week self-isolation, or assist elderly people struggling to get the essentials – there are many safe opportunities to contribute to the community. Do good deeds and communicate about them, and it will encourage others to join in as much as they can.

 

The Linear Thinking Crisis

America has raised two successive generations trapped in linear thinking.

I see it year after year as students get ready to enter the world of work. Many of the young people view their careers through the lens of linear thinking.

The Linear Career Path

Students come to me for both formal and informal advice.  Their career decisions leave many stressed, and even emotionally paralyzed.

They have to get into the right school. They have to get the right professors. They have to land the perfect internship. They have to land a dream job that feeds their passion.  Step after step, they are convinced that one wrong move jeopardizes their future.  They are convinced that each step along the path predetermines the eventual outcome of their careers. One misstep leads to a dead end, from which they can never come back.  They have methodically followed the “one path” in life that they believe will lead them to success once they enter the work world. However, when they reach the point in life when they enter that “real world”, the nice clean path they thought would be waiting for them is not there. No wonder so many students move back home to “figure out life” after college!

The Un-coachable Entrepreneur

Many aspiring entrepreneurs we work with also have this same mentality.  They identify the one business that will bring them fulfillment and feed their passion.  They accept no feedback from mentors, professors, or even customers that challenges their thinking.  They have “figured it out,” so they expect all to get out of their way and let them forge ahead.  Customer discovery, market research, advice from experts be damned!

They are what my good friend and mentor-extraordinaire Shawn Glinter calls the un-coachable.

Don’t get me wrong.  There have always been un-coachable entrepreneurs, at least during the four decades I’ve been working with entrepreneurs.  What is different is how many more we are seeing.  They suffer from the same generational affliction of linear thinking as many of the students I work with.

Time for New Approach to Thinking

And now we face unprecedented economic and social disruption from coronavirus.  Linear thinking no longer will work for life plans nor business plans.

Phil Lewis wrote an excellent piece a couple of days ago about the critical need for lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is coming up with novel, even non-logical, solutions to a problem.  It is creativity at its best.

The critical point is this: it does not matter a jot what you do or where you work. Everyone has it in them to add transformational value through lateral thinking—even, or especially, in times of change or crisis.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs are facing personal crises within the broader context of the coronavirus crisis. The ones whose businesses have the best chance to survive, and eventually thrive, are the ones who can become nimble, lateral thinkers.

Nothing we have learned in the past can prepare us for what is next.  Entrepreneurs, particularly young entrepreneurs, must break free from their habit of linear thinking and find new solutions to the new problems this transformation we are living through has created.

These new problems are coming fast and furious.  There is no time for a contemplative approach to business planning and business modeling.

Experiment often. Fail quickly. Find traction. God speed!

(Photo Source:  Jeff Cornwall)