The Will to Grow ™

Banks Need to Lend Now

Though there are several reasons our economy that has been struggling, the credit crisis is front and center.  Even after all of the government involvement and various stimulus programs, financial institutions remain ridiculously gun shy.  This is so very frustrating.  We, the tax payers, bailed out the banks but in return the banks have been reluctant to lend to stimulate the market and create “real job growth.”

America is built on credit.  Consumers can’t buy without credit.  Homes don’t get built without credit.  Companies can’t invest and grow without credit.  Without access to capital, real economic growth is limited.  This is the key problem with our economy and why the recovery is slow moving.  Using my firm as a case study, at Axispoint, we recently closed on a new and larger credit facility to help us continue down our growth path.  Even though we have no debt on the balance sheet and a strong historical P&L (earnings), it took months and months to drive to the credit line we were looking for.  Why?  Banks aren’t lending, and if they do lend, they are demanding high fees and operational restrictions.  I have several friends who are CEOs of highly successful companies who say they can’t get additional credit in the market.

This lack of lending is truly hurting our country in a plethora of ways, none of which is more important than job creation.  There is a simple formula that everyone needs to understand: Corporate growth = New and better jobs.  If businesses (whether you are a large Fortune 500 company or the entrepreneur starting his or her new business) do not have access to capital you cannot take your company to the next level and hire employees to help you get there.  I am not advocating that financial institutions lend money to anyone and everyone (that was one of the factors of the recession), but there needs to be a middle ground.  Right now, credit lending remains in a deep freeze.  We need the thaw to occur very soon (i.e., banks need to lend again), so we can grow our businesses at a faster pace and create new and exciting employment opportunities.  Then and only then will we see a true economic recovery. 

2010 - Now Is The Time

Happy New Year Everyone! 

The pundits are predicting all types of economic scenarios for 2010.  My read is that we’re going to see mixed results throughout the year and growth will vary based on sector of the economy.  Overall, I believe we are going to experience a slow recovery and real economic growth with pitfalls and roadblocks along the way.  Every month, the market will feel like we are taking two steps forward but then one step backward.

In 2009, we made significant investments in Axispoint including people (our core asset), processes and systems (we’re about to launch a new website, developing a new ERP system, etc.).  We are continuing to invest in the first half of 2010.  Our objective is to grow and become a stronger firm to best meet our vision of being a trusted technology partner to our clients.  We purposely spent while others retracted not for the sake of spending dollars in a down market, but to position ourselves for success in the future.  Only time will tell if we invested wisely, but the preliminary results of our investments look really promising.  I believe 2010 can be a highly positive year and then 2011 when the economy really begins humming again, we can leapfrog the competition to experience exceptional growth.

I have no doubt that the pitfalls and roadblocks will occur and at times even with smart investments, we will take one step backwards.  The real trick is to be incredibly nimble in these uncertain times and make good business calls to take advantage of the opportunities (and there are a lot of them in this market) and attack the issues head on.  I believe now is a critical time in building and ensuring the long term success of your company by developing and deploying core capabilities, new initiatives, innovative ideas, etc.  Good luck and I wish you true success in 2010!

Happy Holidays!

On behalf of the entire Axispoint team, I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Holiday season and a successful and prosperous New Year!  I believe we have much to look forward to in 2010 as the economy truly begins to rebound and we experience more positive momentum.  Until then, speak with you next year! 

Secrets to Success

Have you ever been at a conference or sat through a speech/lecture or even in a meeting where people tell you that you need to work smarter, not harder?  This is truly a crock.  It really bothers me that some seem to believe there is a magic pill called smarts that will make all your pain go away and drive instant success.  Some of you have heard me say it before, but smarts alone will not make your business grow and/or be profitable.

My team often hears me say, “let’s make magic.”  Please let me clarify – I do not imply that magic pixie dust exists and can be sprinkled on every problem.  I believe the secret to success is a formula that can be simplified into three buckets: Smarts, Hard Work, and Timing.  The combination of which is my true definition of magic making and can be the difference between your business booming or stalling.

When I use “Smart” as part of my success formula, I do not mean book smarts or high IQ.  I mean the ability to think ahead of the curve, using your brains and intuition (common sense) to make good business decisions.  Hard work is more than hours at the office or physical and mental labor.  It is doing whatever it takes to get the job done, breaking down barriers, going through road blocks, and solving complex issues.  By utilizing Smarts and embracing Hard Work simultaneously, you have a far better chance of success versus the alternative.  Smarts plus Hard Work is where one plus one can equal three for your business.  Of course, your team has to be on board and fully engaged as well, living, eating and breathing this same formula.  One person, unless you’re a sole proprietor, does not make a team and cannot singularly drive success.

If Smarts plus Hard Work equals three, adding Timing successfully to the Formula equals five.  You can clearly do well by making intelligent business decisions and working passionately and diligently.  However, Timing can be the key variable that drives exponential success.  For example, if you were a baker and owned a bread wholesaler, and applied the right methods and worked diligently, you have bettered your odds of success.  However, if demand for bread fell for some unforeseen reason and was out of your control, that would be bad timing.  Timing is more than luck, as you can use your Smarts to read and try to project market, economic, social and other dynamics.  However, sometimes Timing is beyond your control.  When this occurs, you need to be nimble and willing to change.  You have to reapply your Smarts, work even harder, and recalibrate the business to be ready for when the Timing is right.  When Smarts, Hard Work and Timing happen together and are in sync, that’s a truly magical time for your business.

 

Axispoint’s New Corporate HQ

Hello everyone!  It’s been a while since my last blog, as my travel schedule has been quite hectic.

I am very excited to announce Axispoint’s new state-of-the-art corporate headquarters at 350 Madison Avenue.  We literally moved in a few weeks ago.  For eleven years, our home base (we have offices in several cities) had been at 21 West 38^th Street in New York.  We simply outgrew that locale and needed to find and develop an office environment that represents our future.  What we have created at 350 Madison Avenue is a new 20,000 square foot facility to allow our teammates to better collaborate with each other and our clients.  Our new facility will feature the same leading-edge tools and technology that Axispoint delivers to customers every day, including Web 2.0 Collaboration, Dynamic Data Center, Unified Communications, Enterprise Mobility, and Videoconferencing.

 

This is an important moment in Axispoint’s history, and our new corporate headquarters is ideally suited to help us achieve our customer, team and company objectives.  I encourage all of our clients, prospects and partners to come by and see our new space!

 

Don’t Let the Market Lull You to Sleep – "The Market Trap"

As we all know, this economic downturn has been severe and the recovery period has begun but will be long.  This dynamic can create what I call a “market trap.”  If it rains every day for 30 days straight (as it essentially did in NY in June), we come to expect rain and plan for rain.  What if on the 31^st day, it’s sunny?  Or what do you do if it does rain again on the 31^st day? 

What do I mean by market trap?  If your particular industry or business is on the decline (whether in actual dollars or growth percentage), you can be lulled into riding the market down with your competition.  I don’t mean to suggest there’s a magic bullet out there for each of us to miraculously achieve stellar growth in this economy.  However, I believe there is significant opportunity in, yes, this market.  I had the privilege of meeting Carl Icahn, an icon (no pun intended) in the investor community and Ken Langone, co-founder of Home Depot.  Both had similar messages – not of dire straights and despair but truly of hope and opportunity.  They weren’t being artificially optimistic.  Their message, which I believe in whole-heartedly, is that there are opportunities right now to outperform the competition and your industry norms.  But they are not visible to everyone.  They have to be discovered, thought-through, and executed quickly.

This is what I’m currently working on with my team at Axispoint.  How we can outmaneuver the competition, create growth today, and be the best partner we can for our clients while it’s raining - all the while, building the company to achieve superior returns for employees, customers, and shareholders when the economy is truly bright once more.  Do not let this market trap you into the “wait and see” approach.  Do something.  Change.  Get better.  Find your opportunity.

Embracing Relationship Selling – Don’t be Afraid!

Going back to Business 101, companies need revenue to be successful and, unless you operate a lifestyle business, companies require growth (especially publicly traded firms) to have long term viability.  Also unless you have a specific product or have intellectual property that doesn’t need to be broadly sold/marketed/distributed, revenue comes from selling and making “rain”.  There are numerous business and sales books on effective rainmaking and I am not going to delve into the psychology of effective selling.  It is clear that the easiest form of revenue generation is relationship selling.  Relationships are paramount to building a successful business whether it be client generation, raising capital, hiring resources, etc., because the people that know you and like you, know what you’re capable of and most importantly trust you.  I can’t say it enough – your relationships trust you because you have built some form of personal capital with them.

So why are so many executives, salespeople, marketing managers and others afraid to engage the people they know, trust and care about?  Quite honestly, I see they are out of their comfort zone and that makes them less confident and uneasy.  This reluctance and hesitation exists in my own firm.  I have some very talented executives who have yet to face that uneasy gene within themselves and embrace relationship selling.  The other interesting item is that many of you don’t realize who you really know.  You know many many more people than you think.  Even if someone within your inner circle can’t directly engage you, they may be a key influencer with dozens or even hundreds of others.

To truly grow a business, executives and other key resources need to embrace their fears and learn to make an uncomfortable experience more routine.  You may feel uneasy at first, but once you fly out of the nest and embrace those who know you and trust you most, your companies will be positioned for exceptional growth because you will have built a rainmaking and sales engine.

Success Begins Within – Make Your Own Magic

There are many talented people in this world, yet only a handful achieve their goals and objectives.  There are numerous factors why, including things out of your control such as timing and market dynamics.  However, I have seen very special people miss the mark because of issues and characteristics that they directly influence.  In other words, some feel unfulfilled because they underperformed in a certain area that affected their ability to succeed.

The definition of success can be vastly different among us.  It can be to significantly grow your firm and take it to the next level; to be the best at your function within your firm; to achieve a specific corporate goal – say a revenue target; to fundraise for an important cause meaningful to you to help the world be a better place; to be a better parent; or to simply excel in a particular sport.  How can you achieve your goals and how do you drive to success?

Unless you get extremely lucky (which does happen on the rare occasion, though there is something to be said for making your own luck), success begins within yourself.  In the business world, I have seen brilliant people with considerable talent fail time and time again and not succeed in achieving their objectives.  On the other hand, I have witnessed ordinary people achieve extraordinary results.  Why the disparity?  The overwhelming majority of “success” stories (regardless of the objective) began with one simple word – will.  I have found that most successful people (those who met their objectives) have and had the will to make it happen.  In many cases, they met significant obstacles along the way and did whatever it took to break down the barriers to success or go through the appropriate roadblocks. 

Successful people don’t have all the answers and make mistakes during their journey.  However, they do not accept ultimate failure, learn from their mistakes, and truly embrace “magic making” moments.  At Axispoint, my teammates often hear me discuss making magic.  What I mean is the ability to channel the will that’s inside you to achieve extraordinary things.  When people tell you it can’t be done, you take that to heart and use the power of that negativity as a fiery motivator to help you achieve.  If you have passion, energy, smarts, work ethic, and the will to succeed, nothing can stop you, not even external influencers such as the economic downturn or global events or even a sports injury.  The most successful people embrace these external influencers, even if it means a near-term setback, and use their will to eventually overcome and drive to ultimate success.  If you feel you haven’t done so already, now is the time to Make Your Own Magic!

Culture is Everything

A lot of business and organizational behavior gurus discuss and analyze the important of culture in building a successful business.  When I first went to business school and learned about “corporate culture”, I thought it sounded quite hokey and soft especially since I was more analytical like most business school students.  With years of real world experience (my father-in-law calls it getting your “curls”), I have learned that culture is everything. 

What does culture in a company setting really mean?  To me, it is the common thread – the single most important thing or multiple things - that bonds the people in your organization.  And what many often do not understand is that having a strong corporate culture does not mean you have the same cookie-cutter people working for you.  For example, at Axispoint we are not an homogenous group.  We have people from all walks of life from varied backgrounds and with wildly different interests.  However, there is a common bond that exists in all Axispoint teammates, and it is what makes our company hum (“differentiated”).  If you were to prick the fingers of our teammates, you would find three “like” characteristics: an unending commitment to caring – both customer and employee; complex problem solving skills; and a sense of scrappiness which is a doer mentality above and beyond entrepreneurism. 

Why is this important?  In our case, Axispoint’s culture has made us what we are today.  By really caring and focusing on what our customers and employees need, we have achieved incredibly high customer and employee retention (which combined with a strong sales model is a self-fulfilling prophecy for growth).  Being able to solve our clients most complex issues has created increased customer stickiness.  Our team’s scrappiness has built further differentiation by being a firm that cannot only think strategically, but can roll up our sleeves and get the work done (“execution”).  All three of these characteristics combined comprise Axispoint’s corporate culture and have created the firm we are today.  Our challenge is to maintain, nurture and embrace our culture as we continue our corporate expansion.  This is certainly not a fait accompli and requires continual monitoring to ensure not the “same” people, but the “right-fit” people are hired as we grow.  Culture is not simply important – it defines the organization.  Culture is everything.

Take a Break and Think

I know a lot of senior executives in different industries, and they often share several common characteristics: intelligent, driven, Type A personality, 24/7 work ethic, continual Blackberry usage, etc.   Many folks are such go-getters, over time they structure a standard schedule and march down the path each day to get things done and check the boxes on their to-do list.  I am often guilty of this.  I can get so busy that I try to do everything in my path to help Axispoint grow and be successful.  Sometimes however, we need to take a step back and think.  

I recently had an opportunity to take a last minute weekend trip with one of my friends; it was very spur of the moment and I had less than 24 hours to pack.  It was a very relaxing and rewarding couple of days where I was able to read a little, converse about global business and other topics, and most importantly think.  Thinking is underrated and often has a negative connotation (e.g., “he’s a thinker, not a doer”).  But taking a step back at appropriate times and expending the effort to think through the issues your business faces can be the difference between being successful or unsuccessful.  Spending some quality time can lead to breakthrough ideas, thoughts about vision, important modifications to the business, deviations in strategy, product innovation, hiring decisions, etc.  I’m not saying that spending a few days away can solve all of your company’s issues, but relaxing and focusing your mind can help your business in ways your Type A personality alone cannot.