Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com February 27, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS Tough lessons on why startups fail "T he Ultimate Start-Up Guide: Marketing Lessons, War Sto- ries and Hard-Won Advice" by Tom Hogan and Carol Broadbent (Career Press, $16.99). The authors, who've started businesses that failed and started others that succeeded, learned easy-way and hard-way lessons from their experience and that of angel investors and ven- ture capitalists. They start by highlighting reasons that startups fail, and rightly so — if you can avoid mis- steps at the beginning, you'll increase the odds of success. The top reasons startups fail: "No market need" — Just because you create something new or improved, it doesn't mean the market will embrace it. If you haven't done your homework on the "why it's needed," you won't be able to convince prospects to buy your product/ service. Need deals with more than usabil- ity. Buyers have to make a business case that addresses affordability, scalability and smooth integration with existing operations. "Running out of money" — Plans never go as planned. Budgets should include the costs of slippage in design, pro- duction and delivery. Slippage can be finan- cially disastrous as windows of opportu- nity open and close quickly, especially with seasonal items. "Expanding market focus too quickly" — This deals with loss of focus on the initial market "whether driven by early sales feed- back or engineering desire." Efforts to "improve (save?)" the product devolve into try- ing to be "a lot of different things to a lot of different markets." Lack of focus creates operational and financial havoc; see "Run- ning out of money" above. "A founder that doesn't listen" — Many founders act like dictators by refus- ing to listen to what employee and market feedback tells them. Despite reality, they stick with their vision. The result: Employ- ees bail and products fail. If you can address the failure issues in the first two chapters, the "run your busi- ness" advice in the remaining chapters will increase the odds of long-term success. • • • "Crunch Time: How to Be Your Best When It Matters Most" by Rick Peterson and Judd Hoekstra (Berrett- Koehler Publishers, $19.95). Peterson, who coached some of baseball's best pitchers, and Hoekstra, a VP at the Ken Blanchard Cos., combine their knowledge to show how managers and employees can reframe high-pressure situations into less stressful ones that create opportunities to shine. To set the stage, let's take a drive. You hop into the car and tune the radio to a pre- set station. It's playing one of your favorite songs; you sing along and may even turn up the volume; negative thoughts disappear. The next song isn't one you like. What do you do? Change sta- tions because the song evoked a negative thought and also a positive reaction. You reframed the situation. At work, you can feel pres- sure because you believe that you have little control over the situation, you don't think you can handle it, or you're thinking about the conse- quences of failure. In these cases, your woe-is-me approach means you're playing not to lose. That's a game you can't win because the negatives create a reflexive bias on your approach to the task. By dumbing- down your ability, you become "your own worst coach." The "conscious thinker" focuses on what can be controlled. Doing so creates con- fidence in the ability to explore and grade options, and complete the task. This playing- to-win mindset sees problems as opportuni- ties to showcase skills and shows that skills can be relied upon to produce results. To think consciously, slow things down. Before jumping into high-pressure tasks, ask yourself about the assumptions you're mak- ing about the situation and its possible outcomes. Filter out the negative ones by remem- bering that you've faced simi- lar situations and won. Key takeaway: Thoughts drive actions. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak ▶ ▶ Many founders act like dictators by refusing to listen to what employee and market feedback tells them. The result: Employees bail and products fail. OTHER VOICES Re-entry employment offers second chances, benefits community By Cheryl McDonald T hree and a half years ago, I was working in human resources for the Hartford Public Schools. My husband Jamie left his stable, corporate career to pursue his passion for cook- ing barbecue and needed to hire staff for the res- taurant. I posted a help wanted advertisement with Hartford's adult education depart- ment and we hired Bear's first employee. Not long afterward, I met a woman at the gym and decided to hire her. These were our first two employ- ees. Both had crimi- nal records. Bear's Smoke- house was success- fully launched in no small part due to the hard work and dedication of these two individuals and those that followed. Upon opening our second location in downtown Hartford, we had many applicants, including quite a few with criminal backgrounds. We continued to not discriminate based on background and instead look for the candidates we believed would work hard. At any given time approxi - mately 30-40 percent of our staff has a criminal record. It is thanks to our entire staff including these employees that Bear's has continued to grow and expand to now include three locations (Windsor, Hartford, S. Windsor) and the recent- ly opened Blind Pig Pizza Company in Hartford. Through my work at Hartford Public Schools, I learned that when making decisions, it was important to ask insightful questions that help you to understand the applicant. In my screening for Bear's I ask questions of those with a criminal background: "What makes things different this time?" and "What lessons have you learned from your experience?" I also have built strong rela- tionships with local nonprofits like Open Hearth that provide the ongoing support to ensure that the applicants they have worked with are job ready. At times, all you can really rely on is your gut, and in the case of Bear's, those decisions have been critical to our ongoing success. It is our belief that the hiring of candidates with a history of incarceration benefits the entire community. Providing employment gives the person a sense of purpose and pride, and an opportunity to be part of something positive sometimes for the first time in their lives. This in turn leads to a lower chance of repeat offenses. However, providing employment opportu- nities impacts their entire family, especially their children who now can view their parent as a positive role model and a contributing member of society. When I hear from a man that his biggest regret is missing his family and he wants a better life for his children, he wants to set a better example, he wants to see his chil- dren or grandchildren grow up, I respect that. Knowing how difficult it is for many peo- ple leaving the prison system to find that first job, employing staff with a criminal past has been personally fulfilling. As someone with a human-resources background, I was taught to screen for skills, but now as someone with a personal investment in a growing company I have learned to hire for character first then skills. You cannot teach character. I try to find individuals who are working to better themselves and the lives of their families. At the end of the day, when I go home I did more than just make customers happy with our brisket and mac. Our staff members who have been previously incarcerated are good people who are incredibly loyal, responsible, and hard- working and possess "get-it-done" attitudes. These are the types of employees I want on my team. For Bear's, working with returning citi- zens has made all the difference. If your business is currently hiring based on qualifications, ability, and potential for success, not past mistakes, please consider attending the Reentry Employment and Resource Fair on Tuesday, March 7, at the Marriott Hartford Downtown beginning at 10:30 a.m. For more information, contact Rob Michalman at the Chrysalis Center at (860) 263-4682 or rmichal- man@chrysaliscenterct.org. n Cheryl McDonald is the co-owner of Bear's Smokehouse BBQ. Cheryl McDonald ▶ ▶ At times, all you can really rely on is your gut, and in the case of Bear's, those decisions have been critical to our ongoing success.

• Cover