What Do You Make of This?

My book, "Don't Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare" is an honest account, from my perspective, of my experience in founding one of the first day spas for men in the world called The Men's PowerSpa.

When I had finished my book, in late 2008, I submitted it to one of the leading independent publishers in Canada, and the Managing Editor, who loved the book, and called it "the most original business book he had ever read", said that it belonged on the syllabus of every M.B.A. program in the country.

That was a "light bulb" moment for me, as I had written the book as a cautionary tale for would-be entrepreneurs, to help them avoid the misfortune that I experienced. I had not thought of the book as an educational resource to be used in college or university entrepreneurship and business courses.

Based upon the comments of the Managing Editor, I decided to publish the book myself, and to send it to university and college instructors, to see if it might be of interest for their graduate and undergraduate courses. One of the most thrilling responses that I received was from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, not only one of the top business schools in Canada, but my alma mater, as I have a Master's degree in English from Western.

In short, the Ivey School of Business adapted my book, which is the tale of a first-time entrepreneur with the dream of creating one of the first spas in the world for men, into a case study. The case study was completed in the fall of 2009, and made available on the Ivey Publishing website.

I did not have any financial interest whatsoever in the use of the case study at Ivey or in the sale of the case study to other business schools, but I did see a benefit to me in the association with a prestigious academic institution like Ivey and in exposing my story to students of business around the world, some of whom might have interest in reading the complete story as I told it in my book.

I should also point out that in writing my book, I was as honest as I could possibly be about my actions, my decisions and my mistakes, and those of others involved in the story. I was guided at all times by the truth, and the advice that I had received from several lawyers, that as long as I told the truth, I could defend myself against any legal challenges that might arise. I also felt, and I am going to admit this openly, that as a citizen of Canada, I had the right to tell my story my way - and that is what I did. I refused to allow myself to be cowed out of doing so by anyone.

And, what happened to the case study that was created by the Ivey School of Business?

Shortly after it was published, they received an email from someone associated with the business who complained that the majority owners had not given their consent to use the case study.

The case study that was based upon my book.

The book that was an honest and truthful account of my experience.

The experience that belongs to me, which is part of my life story, and which I told as truthfully as I could.

And, what did Ivey Publishing do? They immediately withdrew the case study from their website, with the intent of revising it so as to completely disguise the name and the identity of the business.

In other words, to completely alter the story that I wrote.

And why would they do that?

I was told that their case studies are not based upon individual stories - like the story of an entrepreneur whose dream business turned into a nightmare. Their cases are based upon businesses, and unless everyone signs off on the case study like a happy little family, they won't use it.

Wouldn't want to risk controversy in the academic world now, would we?

Someday, there may be a case study that bears some vague resemblance to the story that I told in my book.

The story of how my dream business turned into a nightmare.

There are always going to be cowards who are afraid of the truth, and those who lack the courage to tell the truth.

And, hopefully, others who aren't and don't.

If you want to know my story, read my book.

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.

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.

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.