Business Realities

1. HIGH TECH SMALL BUSINESS INDUSTRY DAYDEVELOPING WINNING PROPOSALSPRESENTER:DAVID E. BROCKMARCH 3, 2014

2. Business Realities • Any one year 1 million start a business • 40 percent will fail in first year • 80 percent will be out of business within 5 years • 96 percent will close their doors before the 10th year…Why?

3. Reason for Business Failures • Harvard School of Business study stated that lack of planning is the number one reason for business failure • Other contributing factors: • Technicians who start businesses are good at what they do, but not much good at doing many other things required to sustain and maintain the business…Business is 15 percent technical and 85 percent people…Reality is that people make business with technology a distant second • Insufficient capital • Poor credit arrangement management • Unexpected growth

4. Striving for Entrepreneurial Success • Look for opportunities to do something better than anyone else • Accept risk as a necessary evil • Setting goals not enough, need a plan • Do not reinvent the wheel, learn from others • Make sure the math works, if it does not, the business will not either • Make sure employees understand and work toward the mission • Be resilient, wining is a waste of time • When sacrifices come, work to find a balance so you don’t become a financially successful loser…it’s not about the income, it’s about the outcome

5. Five Keys to Success • Key 1: Build a Dream Team • Key 2: Planning, Your Roadmap To Success • Key 3: Knowledge, the Key that Unlocks the Door • Key 4: The Association Factor • Key 5: The Attitude Connection

6. Key 1: Build a Dream Team • Need a team to obtain a dream • James Collins in his book “Good to Great” said: • The who questions must come before the what questions. • Get the bad off the bus and the good on the bus. Then figure out where to drive it. • Make sure the values of your team members align with your vision & values. • When recruiting, place more emphasis on character attributes than on specific educational background. Practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience can be taught. • Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems. • If you have the need to have to tightly manage someone, you made a hiring mistake.

7. Key 2: Planning, Your Roadmap to Success • To be successful in life one must plan for success…strong connection between success and planning. • If you don’t know where you are going, any path will get you there. • Earl Nightingale said, “Absent planning in ones’ life is like a ship upon the sea without a rudder” • OgMandino in his book The Greatest Salesman said, “Never greet the morning without a map” • Solomon said, “Absent a vision the people will perish”

8. Key 3: Knowledge, the Key That Unlocks the Door • William Dewey said, “Education is a lifelong process” • Skills to be successful are acquired through knowledge. • Employment security means never finish your education. • Reality is that technology will Turn-over every 3 to 5 years. • Charlie Jones said, “Five years from now you will be the same as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read” • Any time you have the opportunity to learn from someone who is exceptionally smart, or successful, capture the gems they throw your way…keep a notebook of the wisdom you hear, read, and learn. • What you do off the job will determine how far you go on the job.

9. What You Do Off the Job Determines How Far You Go On the Job • Study of typical American factory workers: • Line workers watched T.V. 30 hours a week • Line supervisor 25 hours a week • Foreman 20 hours a week • Plant superintendent 10 to 15 hours a week • President 8 to 12 hours a week • Chairman of board 4 to 8 hours a week • Get the picture?

10. Key 4: The Association Factor • In the world of business, you have to make contacts to make contracts • Your network will determine your net worth • It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, or put a better way, it’s who knows you • In many ways when you choose your friends, or business acquaintances, you are choosing your future • John Blanchard said, “At any time, we are becoming the average of the 5 people with whom we are mostly closely associated with” • Create relationships with hinges that never rust

11. Key 5: The Attitude Connection • Zig Ziglar said, “Life is 10 percent what happens to us, 90 percent how we react to what happens to us” • Harvard study revealed that more than 85 percent of those who get ahead in life do so because of great attitudes…conversely, more than 70 percent of those who lose jobs do so because of bad attitudes • Simple facts about attitude: • More important than aptitude; • Reflects person inside; • Let’s the world know what we expect in return; • Dictates how others will respond to us; • Improves ones’ ability to lead, communicate, and motivate more effectively; and • Fine line that separates winners from losers • Solomon said, “As a man thinks in his heart, so shall he be” • Ben Franklin said “attitude is the little thing that can make a big difference” • Norman Vincent Peale said “positive thinking won’t let you do anything, but will let you do everything better than negative thinking will”

12. Desirable Contractor Attributes • Team player • Customer focus • Reasonable cost • Good safety record • Relevant experience • Reliable, responsive, and flexible

13. As a Minimum • Start the marketing process 18 to 24 months out • Review performance work statements (PWS) • Align core competencies to PWS functional work areas • Ask questions (e.g., SBS, CO, COR, PM) • Respond to sources sought announcements/request for proposals • Know your competitors • Build that dream team • Always be prepared…never head into a meeting or give a speech unprepared!