GoFaxer Blog

There’s a huge draw for many young business people to start their own startup. We live in a digital age where email, email fax, and the Internet make starting a business as easy as buying a computer.

But with that easiness, comes a temptation to use your parents as mentors during the process. This can be a tempting proposition if your father or mother has a lot of successful experience in the business world. Having their knowledge in your organization can be a huge asset.

There’s a fascinating article at BusinessWeek.com by Eileen P. Gunn about this issue. She suggests:

“Today’s young adults are comfortable having their parents as mentors, coaches, and advocates throughout their lives. As for their parents, Lloyd Shefsky, co-director of the Center for Family Enterprises at the Kellogg School of Management, points to all the folks reinventing themselves in their 50s and 60s.”

The disadvantages are the same as working in a business with any family member. It’s so hard to extricate yourself from what can be a complicated relationship. if there’s any dysfunction in your family, it’s going to seep into your business.  And sometimes a perfectly good relationship can become strained when the pressures of day-to-day business hit.

Ultimately it depends on the individuals involved. If this is the right path for you, go for it. Your parent’s experience can be a boon.

I have a friend who’s a real entrepreneur and he actually had a girl tell him she wouldn’t date him because of this fact. I guess she wanted to marry a doctor. More power to her.

But I think that this situation is a rarity. Entrepreneurs are the bad boys and girls of the industry. The typical MBA grad working for corporate America would be like the day hiker—safe, easy, and comfortable wearing American Eagle in public. But the entrepreneurs are like the rock climbers, with the cool long hair, calloused hands, Oakleys, and the vintage rock band shirt.

You tell me which you prefer. If you really would rather play it safe, go for it, but let’s face it.  Being dangerous is cool.

I think that perhaps what makes entrepreneurs so exciting and interesting is the fact that they look cool without trying to look cool. They don’t use a Mac simply because the Apple logo is hip. They use a Mac because it’s the best. They don’t just use Email fax because it’s cutting edge. They use it because it makes smart economic sense. And they don’t eat organic food because it’s all the rage. They eat it because they know it will give them the energy to scale those mountains with their bare hands.

Perhaps we could use a little more cool in our world.

I have a lot of experience working with small business owners and I have to confess a little frustration with y’all. Too many of you are thinking too small too. Yes, you have a “small” business but that’s no reason to keep it that way.

Too many companies are still using a fax machine instead of email fax. There are too many small companies that still use dial-up for their Internet connection. There are too many small companies that do zero marketing.

And here’s the worst sin of all: There’s companies out there that actually don’t want to grow. I’ve spoken with business owners who have told me that they are fine with the way things are. They don’t want to grow their business. I was floored.

The web offers almost unlimited opportunity to turn your company into something big time. But too many small business owners have a lot of misperceptions about how the web works.

There’s a great article by Lindsay Holloway at Entrepreneur.com where she interviews Justin Kitch, the creator of Homsestead.com, a company that helps entrepreneurs create a web presence. He outlines 11 myths about the Internet world. He says that too many business owners are “cautious and conservative; they’re afraid of technology and change.”

For the next eleven days I’ll be reviewing each of these myths.

We live in a day and an age where there’s nothing sexier than creating a smart startup business. Grandmothers, who once told their grandkids to get an education so they could become doctors, now encourage their posterity to start a startup.

And we live in a business society that has never been more favorable to the little guys. Yes, big corporations are getting bigger and bigger, buying up other businesses and synergizing. But the fact of the matter is that there are so many technologies like email fax that are just as accessible to small businesses as to large businesses. In addition, small businesses don’t have huge bureaucracy to deal with. An efficient small business can, in many cases, if it’s managed well, respond much quicker to the needs of their customers than their larger competitors.

What about synergy? No problem. There’s no rule that says you must be owned by the same parent company to create a cross promotion or joint venture that benefits both of you. You can still partner with other companies, taking full advantage of mutually beneficial business relationships.

So don’t be afraid of becoming an entrepreneur. Your grandmother is rooting for you.

Have you ever met that guy with endless energy, who thrives on personal contact with other human beings? He’s the born salesman. He can walk into any room; he can charm any potential client; he can close the deal; he can walk away with the sale. Bill Wagner calls these type of business owners Motivators.

Speaking to this group, Wagner says:

“You can be convincing and avoid most confrontation by creating a strong emotional argument. Motivators do well in the toughest of customer service roles, as you are able to see both sides of the argument. You tend to deal with even the most negative arguments by using the three F’s–feel, felt and found–saying, “I understand how you are feeling.”

These are the kinds of leaders that can keep clients long term. These are the kinds of leaders that don’t just lead their team, but they inspire them to great levels of personal achievement and success.

The fact of the matter is that if you’re not one of these leaders, you probably need to hire someone to run your sales department who is. And you should pay him or her a lot.

If there’s anything I’ve learned about business, it is the importance of creating personal connections with your business associates. Leaders like this are able to instill a company culture with the right kind of attitudes about customer service.

I hope that this series this week on entrepreneur personalities has been helpful. Next week I’ll be discussing other issues related more directly with Internet fax.

According to Bill Wagner at Entrepreneur.com, there are certain leaders that he refers to as Managers. This type he defines in the following way:

“You are dominant and independent. In your case, these two characteristics feed each other, so you can appear to be even more dominant or independent than you actually are. You are also very goal-oriented and can be quite analytical, focusing more on processes and outcomes than on people. You have a tendency to look at people as vehicles for helping you accomplish your goals. Consequently, you sometimes disregard or overlook the people part of the equation or unwittingly offend people with your straightforward style of communication.”

This particular type of leader, like the Trailblazer, works best when they hire others to listen to and work their employees. They are extremely good at seeing situations long-term, allowing them to not stress easily over short-term setbacks.

It’s important for business leaders to realize what type of boss they are. For example, if a Manager type were to try to make oneself into a Motivator, their attempts to work with people could backfire. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is vital for any career success, and the success of your business.

I hope this discussion of small business leadership is helpful. Next week I’ll be continuing my dialog on Internet fax technology. So stay tuned.

Some people like working in the office. They like the camaraderie. They like the conversation. The like the association with other people. They like dressing for success. They like business lunches. They like long meetings in conference rooms.

But some of you, and I think you know who you are, prefer working at home in your pajamas. You want to blast your favorite music on iTunes over your huge speakers. You like to eat your morning cereal while checking emails. You like to play ESPN in the background while you do your days’ most important work.

Many of you know that most businesses don’t encourage this kind of behavior, and so you’ve chosen to be the select, the few, the small business entrepreneurs who work totally independently. For you, there might be sacrifices. You’ve got to pay for your own 401K. You’ve got to pay for your own health insurance. But the freedom from corporate America is worth every penny that it costs.

You my friends need to know that email fax was built for you. As long as you have an internet connection, you can send faxes like you’re sipping your morning Starbucks in your cubicle. No one will know that your coffee is fresh brewed by you, just the way you like it.  You’re sitting at your kitchen table using a laptop and no one is the wiser.

I know that in addition to info on Internet fax, many readers are interested in small business information. So this week I’m writing about typical personality types of entrepreneurs. And today I’m writing about the second form of entrepreneur according to Bill Wagner’s great article at Entrepreneur.com. He defines this group as Go-Getters.

Apparently this is the most common type of leader that he found in his research. This type of person is dominant in the desire to succeed. But he or she is also equally interested in the concerns of others. This type of person is a pro at managing both processes and people.

Of this type he says:

“You show a great deal of initiative, coupled with a compelling sense of urgency to get things done. Go-Getters are typically good leaders and good managers, excelling at motivating themselves and those around them.”

I would guess that most business training revolves around training leaders to be this type of leader. This type of person can be both a driver of projects, while also making the team love them for it. But this is a tough balance for most people to manager. I think it comes innately to some, and leaders shouldn’t try to become this if it doesn’t come naturally. But if it’s your thing, if you can pull it off, go for it. The world is your oyster.

Great entrepreneurs understand the importance of using technologies like Internet fax to give them a competitive edge in their industry. What personality types make great leaders, leaders who understand how to make great decisions like this?

Bill Wagner conducted an extensive personality study on entrepreneurs and he found that great leaders tend to be generalists. One of these types of generalist he calls trailblazers.

If you’re a trailblazer, he says, “You are very competitive, ambitious and goal- oriented–so much so that you tend to be aggressive and sometimes take a steamroller approach. You’re restless and energetic, with a strong drive and a sense of urgency, regardless of the task at hand.”

If you are of this personality type, you’re not a risk taker for risk’s sake. You are very logical and analytical about your choices and you seek facts before making decisions.

Trailblazers tend to be very strategic in their thinking, making them very marketing and operations focused. Their biggest challenge is working with people. Their intensity can be too much for their coworkers. Good trailblazers recognize this and hire managers who deal with the every day issues of their team members.

Trailblazers would not likely buy a franchise. They would want to create their own brand, starting from scratch, making it exactly the way that they want it to be. They try to revolutionize their industries, and not just make a quick buck in it.

While using internet fax with your small business is a wise decision, I’ve been contemplating what type of people make the kind of business leaders that would be smart enough to make such a decision.

I found a great article at Entrepreneur.com by Bill Wagner that outlines the key characteristics of successful business leaders. All great leaders tend to be generalists, meaning that they’re strategic thinkers who can think about the big picture.

Wagner suggests that they “prefer environments where they can use their results-driven nature, enjoy autonomy and independence,” and are comfortable taking risks.

The Four Types of Generalists include:
1. Trailblazers
2. Go-Getters
3. Managers
4. Motivators

Other types of workers are specialists. Wagner says:

“Specialists are tactically oriented, prefer being responsible for areas within their areas of expertise, are more detail-oriented, and prefer environments that provide both security and stability. Specialists are typically more risk-averse, unless they are working within their area of expertise.”

If you are a specialist it is probably best to not own your own business, or at the very least become a franchisee where you have strong corporate support. But for those of you who know that you’re a generalist, being a leader comes naturally to you and you will want to strongly consider becoming an entrepreneur. I’ll be discussing each of the four types the rest of the week.