If You Think My Book is Too "Negative", Buy Two Copies

At the end of Woody Allen's classic "Standup Comic" album, one of the few, if not only recordings of his live standup act of the 1960's, he says to the audience "I'd really like to leave you with a positive statement, but I can't. Would you accept two negative statements?"



I was thinking about this yesterday when not one but two people told me that the title of my book "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare" is too negative. "People don't want to read a negative book", I was told, not once but twice on the same day. "You need a more positive title."



Okay - let me make this perfectly clear. My book, "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare" tells the story of how I created one of the first spas for men in the world - my dream business - and how that dream business turned into a nightmare for me.



I don't think the book is negative at all. What I think it is, is truthful. Which is not to say that the book presents the truth. It doesn't. I don't know how any book can claim to present the truth, as there are always numerous sides to any story. But my book presents - to the best of my ability within reasonable parameters, that is, a 126-page account - my truth. And my truth just happens to be that founding one of the first spas in the world for men was a very painful and damaging experience for me. If you want to know why - and feel that by reading my book, you might just avoid making some of the mistakes that I made - then I urge you to buy a copy. And read it.



Helping people avoid making painful and expensive mistakes is not a negative enterprise in my view. I actually believe that it can be a very positive one. And I can assure you of this: I wrote my book myself. I did not have an agent, an editor or a publisher. I told my truth exactly the way I wanted to tell it because it is my truth and it belongs to me. I knew that the first thing that any publisher or agent who came along would do is change the title to something more "positive" - like what? "Your Dream Business Doesn't Have to Turn Into a Nightmare Just Because Mine Did".Wow, that is an improvement!



If you have a really good idea for a business - your dream business - and you think that you are going to launch it with someone else's money - then you might just learn a thing or two from my book. I wish I had read it before I started my dream business with someone else's money.



And, if you think that the title of my book - or the book itself - is too negative, then follow Woddy Allen's lead, and buy two copies.

So, Why Did You Write Your Book?

So, why did you write your book?



If you are an author, you have probably been asked that question, or have asked it of yourself.



Why did you bother to write your book?



Writing a book is not easy - and selling a book is even harder.



So, why do it, unless you are an established author with a loyal following?



I wrote my book "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare" for five reasons:



1) I felt that I had a story that people would find interesting



2) I wanted to challenge myself to take a lot of information and distil it down into a cogent, compelling narrative



3) I wanted to add another dimension to my professional arsenal - as an author



4) I believed that my story could help other entrepeneurs

and



5) I felt that if the book caught on, it could reach a wide audience and make money



Last night, I received an email from a wonderful friend named Tom Berend, a very successful entrepreneur and one of the smartest people I know. This is what he wrote:



Hi Alan:



Just read your book cover-to-cover. It's been on my desk for weeks, but I had only read the first chapter, and it kinda made me cringe - like that horror movie where you watch Jack Nicholson driving through the forest to accept a job at a hotel, and you KNOW it's going to end really badly...



I've got a small venture running in my basement - it's a REALLY GREAT IDEA. There's an angel-finance guy pushing me to accept some investors and build a company. He's got about $500K lined up for me, ready to go. I drafted and redrafted a business plan 7 times before he was happy enough with it to present it to them - and each time, it got better looking. Of course, we are still figuring out who our market is and what our product is, but that's OK, everyone does that.



But now that I've read your book. Hmmm. I realize that I have a REALLY GREAT IDEA and a really wrong business plan. Add money, and investors looking for fast results, that's a recipe for disaster. I've put the finance on hold, will keep running on a shoestring until I learn the business.



Thanks for a really great book, it probably saved my life.



Tom Berend



So, why did you write your book?



Now, you know why I wrote mine.

You Can't Say the Wrong Thing to the Right Person

In my most recent blog post I related an incident in which I was telling a friend about a nutritional program which has the dual effect of eliminating toxins from the body and also achieving weight loss in people who have excess weight - those who do not have weight to lose can actually gain muscle mass as the product contains very high-quality whey protein - but the point of my post was that my friend - who was gulping down a coffee concoction which has over 1000 calories at the time was very skeptical of the product that I was telling him about - a nutritional product which has been endorsed, by the way, by many medical experts, including the former nutritional advisor to the White House. What I wished to bring out by relating this incident was that it can often be very difficult to convince people that a product or service is good for them, but they have no trouble believing that something is bad for them. We seem to expect bad news and be suspicious of good news - why is that? There are many products in life which are good, and many people who wish to do good things - why be skeptical of them?



I received a comment on my blog from Drew Berman, one of the real leaders in the nutritional company which I was writing about, and a really positive, motivational person. A terrific guy to know. He stated the situation in a somewhat different way, but the point was the same: You can't say the wrong thing to the right person or the right thing to the wrong person.



Drew's comment resonated with me because on the very day that I wrote my post, I had a meeting with another long-time associate, and I was telling him about my experience in creating one of the first spas in the world for men. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned that when I first opened the spa, I had a burning desire to convert even the most hard-core guys into clients, so that, if a woman told me that her husband or boyfriend was the kind of guy who would never go to a spa, I would say "Just send him to me. I'll convert him." This was the kind of challenge I was looking for in the early days.



However, after a while I figured out that trying to convert the guy who was dead set against what I had to offer into a client simply wasn't worth the effort. I stopped trying to prove something and just focused on attracting perfect customers. And who was my perfect customer - the guy who was looking for the personal care services that we offered at the spa. If someone told me that either they or their husband or boyfriend would never set foot in a spa, I'd say, fine, we're not looking for that kind of client.



Thanks, Drew. You can't say the wrong thing to the right person or the right thing to the wrong person. Or, as Johnny Carson used to say about sketch comedy: If you don't buy the premise, you don't buy the bit.



If you have a business, stop trying to convert the unconvertible and focus on the people who already get your message.



It's a lot easier and makes a lot more sense.

Why is Good News so Hard to Believe?

Readers of this blog know that I usually use this space to write about my experience in launching and managing one of the first spas in the world for men, called The Men's PowerSpa.



I have also written a book about that experience called "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn into a Nightmare".



The incident which I am going to relate in this post occurred during the time that I was managing the business, but it does not necessarily have to do with small business. It has more to do with what I will refer to as human perversity.



While I was still running my spa for men, one of my clients - who was also a good friend - was introduced to a nutritional cleansing program created by a company in the United States called Isagenix.



Isagenix is reputed to be the world leader in nutritional cleansing, and their flagship program is a 30-day cleanse, which not only removes toxins from the system, but also achieves weight loss in most people who follow the program, because toxins in the body are encased in fat.



My friend followed the 30-day program very conscientiously, and he lost 24 pounds in 30 days. Not only that, he reported that he felt great - had more energy, was sleeping better and felt less stressed. I watched the transformation with my own eyes and I can certainly attest to the fact that he looked like a new man.



I was intrigued not only because of the dramatic improvement that I saw in my friend's appearance, but because I had started a spa, and the 30-day detoxification program seemed to be a perfect fit for a business that had as its mission to help men look and feel their best.



Within a few months of being introduced to the Isagenix nutritional cleansing program, I had the falling out with my investors that I chronicled in my book "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare", and was no longer running the spa, but I continued to be involved with Isagenix. To this day - almost three years later - I have an Isalean protein shake for breakfast every day, and I attribute the fact that I have been able to remain healthy despite the stress that I have experienced over the past few years to Isagenix. I have also recommended the 30-day program to several of my friends - guys who had said for years that they wanted to lose weight and improve their nutrition - and the results that they have achieved have been phenomenal.



I have also asked several personal trainers whom I have known for many years to evaluate the products. One of them is Sheldon Persad. I have known Sheldon for over 20 years. He is one of the most straightforward, no-nonsense people I have ever known, and totally dedicated to his personal training practice. I asked him to evaluate the products in the Isagenix nutrtional cleansing program over two years ago. He spent the first year trying to find flaws in it and looking for reasons not to recommend it to his clients. Now, he not only recommends it to his clients, he has put his mother on the program. That is how much he believes in it.



Last night, I went into the back office of my Isagenix website and reviewed some of the training videos from Isagenix University. In video after video, professionals from the world of medicine endorse and explain the benefits of the Isagenix products - one of them is the former nutritional consultant to the White House, while another is a colorectal surgeon. There are chiropractors, gynecologists, gastroenterologists - all expounding the health benefits of the 30-day nutritional cleansing program and the other Isagenix products.



Watching the videos last night reminded me of an incident which occurred while I was still running my spa for men. I was having coffee with another of my clients -another gent who had said for years that he really wanted to lose weight. He had at least 30 pounds of excess weight that had accumulated around his middle - which is a serious health concern for men. Women tend not to develop a "bowling ball" of excess weight in their belly in the way that men do.



When I mentioned the Isagenix program to him, and the phenomenal results that I had seen in several of my friends, he was immediately skeptical - and rattled off a number of people that he would have to consult before embarking on the program - his massage therapist, chiropractor, physiotherapist - etc.



While we were chatting, he was consuming one of those frothy coffee concoctions which has been shown to contain more fat and calories than a cheeseburger and fries. As far as I know, he had not consulted with any of his medical team before pouring that into his body - but he wanted to make sure that the Isagenix products that had been endorsed by the former nutritional consultant to the White House were safe.



This incident tells you why it can be so hard to sell people anything that is good for them - whether it is a nutritional cleansing program or a spa service. We always believe bad news - does anyone doubt that the frothy coffee drink is really full of fat, sugar and caffeine and that it has absolutely no nutritional value? Everyone knows that, and yet people line up to buy it all day long.



But try telling people about a product that is actually good for them - that can help them eliminate toxins, lose excess weight, gain energy and reduce stress. Must be a con, they say.



We believe bad news and doubt the good news. Perhaps that's why obesity has reached epidemic levels in our society, along with other lifestyle-related illnesses.

Call it human perversity.

Does Fairness Belong in the World of Business?

On March 2, 1995, at about 2 in the afternoon, I was "downsized" from the television station in Toronto at which I had been working since August, 1980.





Damn right I remember the exact date and time, as it changed my life.





In the 14 1/2 years that I had worked at the station, most of it as a Writer/Producer, I had received several awards for my productions, but when I was "let go" (as if I had been trying to escape) I was informed in a letter that, due to economic conditions, the company was being forced to downsize. That was complete and utter twaddle as within months or even weeks, the company had hired hundreds of new employees, and over the past 15 years, that number has grown into the thousands. But I, along with hundreds of my former colleagues, was lied to, and fired simply because the majority owners of the company had brought in a new C.E.O. and given him the freedom, if not a mandate to "clean house".





Was that fair?





In my book "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn into a Nightmare", I recount the experience that I had in launching one of the first spas in the world for men - and, specifically, how my "dream business" was turned into a nightmare because of my relationship with my investors who acted in a way that I do not believe was fair.





In a recent discussion about my book, a friend asked me what made me think that the world of business was fair. "Didn't you know", he asked "that business is a jungle? What made you think that people were going to be fair? How could you have been so naive?"





I have an answer for him.





The answer is "yes". Yes, I expect people in business to be fair. I expect everybody to be fair, and I try to be fair to everybody - in business and in other areas of my life.





I do not believe that we can draw a circle around the world of business and say, "This is the business world . There is no such thing as fairness here", and then expect there to be fairness in other areas of life.





Once we begin to erode the fundamental values of society - ( if you don't believe fairness is one of those fundamental values, get arrested for a crime that you didn't committ and see how quickly you start begging to be treated fairly) - once those fundamental values are eroded in one area, we begin to lose them everywhere.





And that is exactly what I see happening in our society right now - the fundamental values of decency, honesty, fairness - being eroded every day. Pepople like Bernie Madoff don't fall out of the sky. They are products of a culture. A culture which we create for ourselves.





Should you treat people fairly in business? Or do you believe, as my friend does, that the concept of fairness doesn't even come into play in business?





I believe that we live in the world we create.





If you want fairness in the world, be fair. In your business dealings and everywhere else.

What Does "Commitment" Mean In Your Business?

Readers of my blog, and of my book "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare" know that I founded one of the first spas in the world for men.



I did that because I had a mission to help men look and feel their best through personal care services, and felt that men were more likely to enjoy these services in a facility designed with their specific needs and tastes in mind.



I believed in the mission of my business and was committed to it.



Committed to it - what does that mean?



Does being "commited" to a business mean the same as being"committed" to a marriage?



Does it mean that you will be there through good times and bad?



Isn't that the meaning of "commitment"?



Commitment doesn't mean "for now". It means "forever".



If there are hard times in a marriage, you hang in there, if you are committed to it.



We all know that people say that they are committed to their marriage, but for whatever reasons, they often fail to live up to the commitment that they made.



Or, to be more accurate, they were never really committed, if the definition of "commitment" implies dedication or devotion over time.



Can we say "I'm committed today, but ask me tomorrow and things may have changed"?



That is not a "commitment" - it may be a pretty strong feeling, but it is not a commitment. Not if it changes tomorrow.



If you think you are committed to your business - what does that mean to you? How much hardship are you willing to endure and for how long?



The ability or willingness to endure hardships is what commitment is all about.


Which is why commitments are so hard to live up to.



What if you have partners or investors in your business, as I did?



What are they committed to?



How much hardship will they endure and for how long?



Just as in a marriage, it is very hard to know - and not knowing can cause a great deal of pain.























I

What are the Three C's Of Your Business?

When I was developing The Men's PowerSpa - one of the first spas for men in the world - there were three concepts which formed the holy trinity, if you will, of my philosophy and approach: commitment, consistency and continuity.

"Commitment" can mean many things in a business, but in my business I defined it to mean three things: our commitment to our clients, my commitment to my staff, and my staff's commitment to the business. We could have added other forms of commitment, including the staff members' commitment to each other, but I like to think in groups of three.

I defined "consistency" in the spa as a reliable and predictable level of quality of the client experience. In other words, I wanted to ensure that our clients could always count on the same quality in their treatments and in customer service. I didn't want them to have a great experience one time and an inferior experience the next time.

Finally, I defined "continuity" to mean a feeling of progression from one visit to another. Whether a client was coming into the spa for a skin care service, a massage, or a hand or foot care service , we were very careful to make him feel that his service or services would pick up from the point of his last visit - and that the service provider was aware of any issues or special concerns that he might have. There can be no progress from one visit to another in a spa if you are constantly having to start back at the beginning every time.

The Three C's were more than fancy words and concepts - the were values that informed many if not all of the decisions that I made while I was developing and running the spa. If I hadn't believed that consistency and continuity were crucial to the success of my business, I would not have worried about hiring and retaining the best full-time staff - all I would have cared about was whether or not I had a service provider to offer a service at any given time. I might have hired a number of part-time people, who might have been cheaper, if all I had cared about was having someone available - I know of a number of businesses that operate that way. You never seem to see the same face twice.

What are "The Three C's" of your small business? That is, what are the key values that form the cornerstone of your philosophy - and inform the decisions that you make as to how to run your business? They don't have to start with the letter "c" of course, but they should be important enough for you to feel that you cannot compromise on them without undermining your prospects of success.

Once you have defined these fundamental values, make sure that everyone knows and accepts them - staff, partners, investors.

Can You Afford to Love Your Small Business?

In the summer of 2005, I was in love.



Yup, I'll admit it.



Truly, madly, deeply.



I was in love with the small business that I had founded.



It was one of the first spas in the world for men, called The Men's PowerSpa.



And why shouldn't I have been in love with it - I had created it just the way I had imagined it.



It was slick, sleek and masculine, with a bit of swagger.



But it didn't only look cool, it had taste - man, you weren't going to hear any wind chimes and pan flutes in here - you were going to hear Sinatra, Darin, and Bennett - real guy music.



And it had a mission - a serious mission - to help men look and feel their best.



Because looking and feeling his best confers benefits in every aspect of a man's life.


That was the core belief of my business.


I loved having created one of the first spas in the world for men, I loved being the self-proclaimed world leader in the men's personal care industry and I loved it when guys came in and left - looking and feeling their best.


Because I loved my small business, I believed in it, and defended it against criticism, expecially if the source of the criticism was people who had never set foot in the spa.


Like my investors.


Love conquers all, they say. But they also say that love is blind.


Was I blind to some of the problems in my small business?


I really don't know.


If you have a small business, can you afford to be in love with your business?


Can you afford not to?

Is Your Business Playing to Win Or Not To Lose?

In my post of yesterday, I wrote about the prevailing attitude that I had during the development phase of my small business - one of the first spas in the world for men - and throughout the two and half years that I was running the business.



The prevailing attitude was 'This business can't fail."



The concept of my small business was to create a place where men could enjoy personal care services designed to help them look and feel their best in a comfortable, masculine environment.



How could a business like that fail?



And, by the way, the business hasn't failed.



It was the relationship with my investors that failed.



Because I believed that my business could not fail, I made certain decisions - decisions that I would not have made if I felt that the business could or likely would fail.



In other words, I expected abundance, not scarcity.



I expected lots of clients, a steady stream of revenue, and success.



And because I expected success, I created a company that could succeed.



I founded my spa for men on three key watchwords: commitment, consistency and continuity.



I wanted a staff that was committed to the business, offering services of consistent quality, in order to create continuity with our clients.



To achieve that, I had to hire and retain good people. I could not afford to have a revolving door of service providers. If I did not retain my staff, I could not achieve the Three C's that were the cornerstone of the business: commitment, consistency and continuity.



And that meant I had to pay my staff right from the beginning -before we had any clients. If I had only paid them a "fee per service", with no services to deliver, they would have left within couple of days.



The belief that the business could not fail informed virtually every decision that I made.



Paying the staff an hourly wage was just one of them.



If you are thinking of starting your own small business, ot if you already have a small business, are you expecting abundance or scarcity? Are you playing to win or not to lose? Do you believe that your business cannot fail, or that it likely will?



Your belief system will determine how you develop and run your business.



If you have investors, as I did, you had better make sure that they share your belief system.



"Are we playing to win or playing not to lose?"



Make sure everyone has the same answer.

"This Business Can't Possibly Fail"

It was shortly after 1 p.m. on June 10, 2005, when I gathered the staff of my small business - one of the first spas in the world for men - together for a brief meeting. The press had all left by then - about 40 had attended the official press launch between 10 and 12:30 - and the private party for friends, relatives and business associates was called for 6 p.m. - so the timing seemed right for a little motivational speech to the staff - the 7 fresh-faced and eager young gals who had been hired as service providers.



I said a few words, then yielded the floor to the business consultant with whom I had worked in very close tandem from mid-January through to the official launch on June 10, and upon whom I had relied for advice and support throughout the process.



"This business cannot fail", he assured the staff. "This business cannot fail."



It was a comforting message, and one which he had repeated many times during the previous six months. "This business cannot fail."



And why would it? Attractive young professional women providing personal care services designed to help men look and feel their best, in a comfortable, masculine environment.



How could a business like that fail?



If you are thinking of starting your own small business, should you go into it thinking that your business cannot fail?



If you have read anything about the Law of Attraction, then you may believe that thinking that your business is going to fail can attract the energy that will make it fail.



Whereas believing that your business is going to be a great success attracts the energy that will make it a success.

Throughout the process of developing my small business - and for the two and half years that I ran it -I firmly believed that my business could not fail.



The concept, the product, the execution - were all too good for the business to fail.



But I was wrong.



Any business can fail. Whether you wish to believe it or not.

I don't believe that an awareness that a business can fail necessarily attracts the energy that will make it fail

But I do believe that a refusal to accept that it can fail could lead to decisions that will make it fail.

I shall have more to say about this in future posts.



Stay tuned.

What is the "Mikey Factor" in Your Small Business?

Back in 1981, I was just starting my career in television production, and working as the Unit Manager on a location drama. One day, I learned a lesson that would serve me well some 20 years later, when I came to develop a small business. The lesson that I learned in 1981 was that any small detail can really screw up a production. This is how I described it in my book entitled "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare":

One day, one of the lighting guys wasn’t feeling well and left the set early. At the end of the shooting day, word was sent out to the set from the production office that the call time for the following day was being moved up from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m., because the production had fallen behind schedule, but the lighting guy didn’t hear the announcement because he had gone home early.

And you, as the Unit Manager, didn’t think of calling him at home to inform him of the scheduling change.

Ordinarily, that might not be a big deal, but this time, it was.

Because -the next morning, as the convoy of production vehicles was pulling out of the television station to make its way to the set – a small town about an hour north of the station –the huge lighting truck remained in place - and a bolt of white hot terror ran from the top of your head down to your toes, as you realized that the driver of the lighting truck was still in bed, because you hadn’t thought to call him to tell him about the change in call time.

Soon there would be 40 people standing around on the set while the lighting crew was waiting for the truck to arrive so that they could set up for the first scene– and whatever time they had hoped to pick up by virtue of the earlier call time would be entirely lost.

So you got into the truck yourself - and without a license to drive a rig that big or any idea of where the gears were – you willed the vehicle to the set – sweat pouring down your face –and you never forgot how that felt, for the rest of your career in television production – or the rest of your life.

The fellow whom I forgot to call was named Mike, and everyone called him "Mikey".

Forgetting to call "Mikey" almost ended my career in television production before it began.

But the lesson that I learned stayed with me -and so, when I was developing my small business, which was a spa for men, I made a list of everything that I felt could go wrong - every single small detail that I could think of - that had the power to ruin my business.

And I checked that list every single day.

If you are developing a small business, or if you are already running one, ask yourself "What is the 'Mikey Factor' that could ruin or damage my business if I forget to do it. Is it insurance, a security system, labor regulations or building codes?

It takes a lot to make a business successful, but the smallest details can make it fail.

The Top of One Mountain is the Bottom of Another

When I was developing my small business, which was a spa for men, I learned a very valuable lesson, although I did not realize it at the time.

It was November of 2004, and I had just returned from a trip to Vancouver, during which I had made a presentation to two prospective investors - and, subsequent to the presentation, they agreed to provide the bulk of the financing for my small business. The following day, we had a meeting and we all shook hands on the basic terms of an agreement to go forward. When I returned home to Toronto, I felt as if I were sitting on top of a mountain, until I realized that I was at the bottom of another one. Here is a brief excerpt from my book:


It is Saturday -the day after your triumphant return from Vancouver – and for the moment, you are sitting on top of the world.

For a brief moment.

Because - you don't actually have the money for your dream business -not yet.

You have an agreement in principle. You don't have a signed agreement. And you won't get the money until you do.

And - while you are on the subject of what you don't have -yet - you may as well include: a location, a designer, a contractor, a product line, a bank account, a line of credit, a Small Business Loan, a website, a software program, a security system, a telephone, a staff, a logo, a marketing plan, marketing materials…. and, you have promised your investors that your dream business will launch in June, 2005- exactly seven months from now.

What I did not know at the time, was that the very lesson that I was learning in the development phase of my small business would apply once the business opened. Every time I thought that I had climbed a mountain -by having the best day, the best week or the best month - I would find that I was at the bottom of another mountain - facing the worst day, the worst week or the worst month.

One of the most important - and painful -lessons that I learned in running my small business is that every single day you are at the bottom of another mountain.

If you accept that, you may be able to enjoy the climb.

Make Sure People Can Get To You If You Are the One Who Gets It

If you have read my book entitled "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare", then you know that I started a small business and ran it for two and half years before I had a falling out with my investors that turned my dream business into a nightmare.

You may not know that, in addition to promoting my book with a kind of evangelical zeal in hopes of helping other would-be entrepreneurs avoid the heartbreaking experience that I had, I also create marketing and communications tools for businesses through another company which I founded. In this latter capacity, I often contact companies -either by phone or email - to introduce myself and to pitch them on the marketing and communications services that I can provide.

Now - when I call up a company to pitch them on an idea which I believe can help them sell more of their products or services, of course I am trying to build my own business, but I am also trying to help them build their business. And, if I didn't think I could help them, I really wouldn't be wasting my time or theirs.

A couple of weeks ago, I called up a company that sells products online, with an idea that I felt could really help them sell more of their products. Have you ever tried to contact a large online retailer to see if you can speak to someone in the marketing department? If you have, then you know what I'm talking about.

However, I persevered, and was finally connected to someone in the marketing department who agreed to take a couple of minutes to listen to my idea. I succinctly explained the service that I could provide, and how I felt that it could help them sell their products online. The person to whom I was speaking expressed interest and requested that I submit a proposal in writing, which I did, promptly.

Yesterday I called back to follow-up on the proposal, which was submitted via email, as requested, to see if it had been received and to check on the status. This time, I was unable to get through to the person who had requested that I submit the proposal. I was told that she was not going to take my call unless I was one of their existing clients - "No, no, I explained to the person on switchboard, I am not a client, I am calling to follow-up on a proposal that I submitted at your request." "Well, she's not going to take your call" was the response, and what was not stated but implied, "Take a hike".

Now, let's just say that my idea is a really good one. I can tell you that it is because I adapted it from one of my mentors who happens to be one of the real gurus of internet marketing.

Let's just say that my idea (his idea, really) would help this company sell more of their products online.

What if I never call back because I was treated so rudely by someone who doesn't own the company?

When I ran my small business - one of the first spas for men in the world - I did not answer every phone call that came in. I had a staff of young gals who provided services in the spa, and they took turns answering the phone. But I made sure that everyone who called in with some kind of marketing idea - something that might just help my business - got a return call from me.

Why? - because I understood that a great marketing idea could come from anywhere - and that as the founder of the business I could not afford to miss out on a great idea by having someone who didn't get it dismiss it out of hand.

If anyone was going to reject an idea that could help me grow my business, it was going to be me.

If you are the one who gets it in your small business, make sure that people with good ideas can get to you. Otherwise, you may be missing out on a really good idea from someone like me.

There is No Such Thing As Dumb Money, Only Dumb Investors

Let's say you have an idea for a small business, but you don't have enough of your own money to get it off the ground.

If you are really determined to start your small business, and you really believe that it is going to be successful, then the next step would be to try to borrow money from a bank and/or raise money from investors.

If you decide to raise money from investors - and they could be people you know, or people you don't know - you will ask yourself, how much do money do I need, when do I need it, and what am I prepared to give up for it, among other questions.

But, perhaps, by now, you have heard the popular distinction between "smart money" and "dumb money", and you are wondering, how will I know the difference.

I think that all money has the same I.Q.

It's the investors who can be smart or dumb.

Here are three chracteristics of a "smart" investor for your small business:

1) a smart investor totally understands the concept and the mission of your business

2) a smart investor respects and shares your passion and commitment to your small business

3) a smart investor knows that it takes 3-5 years to build a small business into profitability

And a dumb investor?

1) a dumb investor invests money in your small business without understanding your concept or mission

2) a dumb investor has no passion or commitment to your small business and will abandon it at the first sign of trouble

3) a dumb investor thinks he or she knows how to run your small business better than you do, without any experience in that business

I don't believe that there is any such thing as "dumb" money. But a "dumb" investor can turn your dream business into a nightmare.

How the Dumbest Comment I Ever Heard Became the Smartest

In the summer of 1982, I was producing a documentary on missing children, one of the first network programs produced on this subject. We were examining three types of missing children cases; stranger abductions, in which a child is taken by someone that the child and child's family doesn't know, parental abductions, in which a child is abducted by one of the parents, most often in a custody battle, and runaways.

The parental abduction case which we were following involved a 13-year-old girl who had been abducted, allegedly, by her father - at least, she had not been returned to her mother after a weekend visit with the father. The child and her father had been missing for almost a year.

One day a call came into the television station where I was producing the documentary, stating that the detective who was handling the parental abduction case was avilable for an interview. I was out with the director on another shoot, so the host of the show grabbed a cameraman from the newsroom and went out and did the interview. When she got back, she left the interview tape on my desk to view with the director of the show when we got back from our shoot.

When my colleague and I put the tape into the playback machine, the first thing we heard was the host asking the detective a very logical question: "Why is it so hard to find missing people?"

What she meant, and what we had all been wondering was, "How can a father and his teenage daughter avoid being caught for almost a year?" -that was what we all wanted to know.

But the detective said "Well, it's always hard to find missing people, until you locate them, and then it's easier to find them."

The director and I heard this and began to roar. I cannot ever remember laughing harder. Yes, detective, it would be a lot easier to find missing people once you've located them, since they are then no longer missing.

I always considered the detective's answer one of the dumbest comments I had ever heard in my life. (What he meant, of course, was that until you know where the missing person is located - i.e. in what city -you really have no idea where to begin searching.)

Until, I started a small business.

Until, I followed the advice of lawyers, accountants and business consultants and thought I did everything right.

Until things went very wrong, and all of the people who had told me that I was doing everything right started telling me how I had done everything wrong.

It's always hard to know if a business is going to succeed until you try it - then, if it doesn't work, it's a lot easier to say that it isn't going to work.

Just like the dumb detective said.

Guess he wasn't so dumb after all.

What drives you?

In the summer of 2004, when I was developing the business plan for my "dream business" - which was one of the first spas in the world for men - I was out for dinner with a friend and his wife. I told them about my plan for a business which would offer personal care services exclusively for men, designed to help them look and feel their best. My friend's wife replied that she had just heard about a new idea for a fast food restaurant - offering cheese steaks. "Why wouldn't you start a business like that?", she asked. "Because I'm trying to help people", I answered, "not kill them."

Okay - this is not about the health benefits or lack thereof of a fast food repast consisting of steak and cheese - it is to say that if you have a personal mission - a passion, if you will - to help men look and feel their best, you are not likely to be start up fast food restaurant - or, at least I didn't. I started a spa for men.

So, right from the start - the very beginning - I was driven by passion. And I continued to be - every single day. And I tried - every single day - to instill the passion that I had to help men look and feel their best into my staff - to ensure that a visit to my spa was the best part of every client's day.

If you are not driven by passion in your business - what are you driven by? The money? If so, how long will you stick with it? How will you get through the tough times - because there will be tough tmes. If its just about the money - and there are lots of other businesses you could start to make money - how quickly will your business have to develop to keep you interested and motivated?

Passion was my motivation. If I had been motivated simply by money, I'd have needed to be in a business that developed a lot more quickly - but what business does that? Cheese steaks? Well, maybe.

I believe that many, if not most of the iconic businesses of the world are driven by a passionate belief in the value of the product or service being offered. Behind many of the most successful companies, there is a passionate, visionary entrepreneur - not someone simply looking for the fastest, safest buck.

If you have an idea for a business that you are really passionate about - your passion will likely be what sustains you.

Unless you make the mistake of bringing people into your business who don't share your passion.

Is it B.P. or B.S.

In my book, entitled "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare", I describe in rather excruciating detail what I went through as an aspiring first-time small business owner with an idea for a dream business but no experience running a small business and no idea how to write a business plan.

At the time - the summer of 2004 - I actually believed that there were people out there who knew how to project the revenues for my "dream business" - which was a spa for men - even though the concept was virtually untried - only a small handful of spas for men existed in the world at the time that I was developing The Men's PowerSpa, and none of them was really very similar to my concept.

Nonetheless, I believed that the accountants, lawyers, business consultants and M.B.A.'s that I hired at various stages in the process could actually prepare an accurate set of pro formas.

And, as it turned out, I staked my business on it because the "financials" in the B.P. created expectations that the business had to live up to.

If you are an aspiring first-time small business owner and you intend to raise money from investors to get your small business off the ground, you will need a Business Plan, or a B.P. Study it very carefully - your business and your life may hinge on its accuracy. If it turns out to be more B.S. than B.P., you will have a nightmare on your hands.

Been there. Done that.

What is a "dream business"?

I took considerable interest, some months ago, when the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team hired Brian Burke as their new General Manager and, at the press conference to introduce him to the media and fans, he described his new position as a "dream job".

A "dream job"? What is a "dream job"? Is it a job in which you make a lot of money for very little effort? Is that a "dream job"? Is that what Burke meant when he described the General Manager's role with the Leafs as a "dream job"? Clearly, not. Burke had already been a General Manager in Anaheim, had won a Stanley Cup, and was one of the highest-paid G.M.'s in the game, so what did he gain by moving to the Leafs? It wasn't more money or power for less work. Yet, it was a "dream job".

A "dream job" is one which has special meaning for you. It is not about money, power or working a few hours a day. It is about the challenge of achieving a personal mission.

A "dream job" has to resonate with a personal mission - for Burke, that mission is, obviously, to lead one of hockey's most storied franchises to its first Stanley Cup in over 40 years. That's a challenge worth taking on, if you are a G.M.

As I said, I took considerable interest in Mr. Burke's comments because I wrote a book entitled "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare".

What is a "dream business"?

For me, a "dream business" was one which provided me with an opportunity to accomplish my personal mission of helping men look and feel their best.

That was my personal mission, and that was the mission of the "dream business" which I created, called The Men's PowerSpa.

If you have a personal mission, and create a business to provide you with the opportunity to achieve that mission - i.e. your "dream business" - you had better have your own money to do it or only bring in investors who share your personal mission and the mission of the dream business.

Otherwise, you won't have a "dream business".

You will have a nightmare.