Tag Archives: featured

Business, Economics, Opinion

Small Business: Saturday and EVERY Day.

Back in November 2013 a New York Times blog page featured a posted entitled “Small Business Saturday Is Under Attack (From Small Businesses).”

The focus of that piece was criticism of American Express, the company that created the Small Business Saturday promotion. Objections were aired to American Express’s fee structure (AmEx is much more expensive for merchants than Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and especially debit cards), their policy prohibition against merchants directing customers to alternate forms of payment, and more.

Writing this as I am on threshold of the 6th Small Business Saturday, my cynical side is fixating on the implication that by “shopping small” this Saturday, one is now morally/ethically free to shop elsewhere from that point forward.

No! Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday… they’re all gimmicks, all traps. We need to maintain our agency, our capacity for independent thought and remain mindful of what is most important to us in the big picture, and over the long run.

big_nightDo we want healthy local communities with distinct personalities? A daily practice of shopping at independent, locally owned businesses the only way to achieve that goal. Restaurants don’t make it on one Big Night.

What local retailers need is not one fantastic day this Saturday, and a slow December because we’ve all gone back to Amazon and the mall. What our local retailers need is our commitment to patronage throughout the holiday season and all year long.

It is no secret: By shopping locally we incur three costs – some travel, more limited selection, and higher prices. However, by shopping locally we enjoy many benefits, not the least of which are these three  – better customer service, a better job market, and more vital and livable community.

The benefits to shopping locally greatly outweigh the costs. Understanding this truth takes a little research.  Here is a GREAT resource for learning about the benefits of shopping locally, shopping small: www.ilsr.org – the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a forty-year-old economic research organization headquartered in Portland, Maine.

Living “localism” values takes a little mindfulness and discipline. Like diet and exercise, the benefits are clear, but we do have to earn them!

Should we support Small Business Saturday? Absolutely. Every Saturday and the rest of each week, too.

Business, Economics, Opinion, Politics

I know it’s complicated, but…

How much stronger would our economy be if compensation was paid more evenly throughout corporate workforces, instead of the practice in place of paying execs as much as possible and front-line employees as little as necessary?

Of course they take it, because they can. But we all know that no one  EARNS this kind of coin. Where is the conscience? The outrage?

The Top 25 Most Overpaid S&P 500 CEOs

 

Read the full report here.

Education, Opinion

In favor of meritocracy. Right?…

Marketing and general business guru Seth Godin (pictured) is a prolific writer, particularly on his blog.  He generally sticks to business subject matter but today he took on education.

What he advocates for is essentially a reboot of our deeply embedded sorting system within our public schools that rewards natural talent and good looks ahead of teamwork and effort.

He thinks we need to stop and ask ourselves the question: What is school for?

He argues that we take the easy way out, that instead of celebrating “the students who regularly try the hardest” and “who help each other the most… we take a shortcut and resort to trivial measures instead.” I agree. What about you?

“When we bench people who aren’t naturally good, what’s the lesson?” – Seth Godin

Here’s a link to today’s post by Seth Godin — The wasteful fraud of sorting for youth meritocracy — which I recommend reading first. THEN move on to his full-blown manifesto which can be found at the end of the above blog post.

Okay, now Back to School, everyone! :-)

Entrepreneurship, My Work

Starting Over in Waltham

I enjoyedthe great privilege of writing a ten-part series of columns for the Waltham News Tribune, our local newspaper. Part 1 was published on June 6, 2014, and Part 10 on November 28th.

One of the things I learned in the process is that telling one’s story is hard!

The series is called “Starting Over in Waltham,” and it chronicles my  personal journey of emotional and professional recovery, beginning with the end of my last business, The Elephant Walk restaurant, and ending with the beginning of my next one, a small grocery store I’m calling Hundred Mile Market.

No need to say more about it now; the articles tell the story.

Part 1: Beginning at the end

Part 2: Desperation and breakdown

Part 3: This too shall pass

Part 4: Reconnecting and reengaging

Part 5: Laying a new foundation

PART 6: Back to work

Part 7: Hundred Mile Market

Part 8: Devils in Details

Part 9: Relapse

Part 10: Ending at the Beginning

Business, Entrepreneurship, My Work

Founder Alchemists

“The Strange Secret Behind Founding a Business” is an interesting article by Kevin Ready on Forbes.com about the invisible forces founder/entrepreneurs bring to bear on the world around them as they create.

I found it particularly inspiring as I’ve begun readying an attempt to start a new business later this year. The process is Methodical/Mechanical, Technical, sure… but at some point, when a venture really takes off, it feels like an alchemical miracle occurs.

That’s what I created and experienced in the 90s with The Elephant Walk. Time to do it again! :-)

News, Opinion

This makes ME angry…

…I can’t imagine what it would be like to be the family.

Their son and brother was killed crossing the street. A woman is arrested and charged with vehicular homicide. Later her boyfriend confesses to being the driver. The DA tries her anyway, and she’s found not guilty. And the boyfriend has NOT been charged. Both “parties” are free. So for sure the driver is paying no price.

I believe the way this played out was the legal strategy of their defense team all along, understanding and gaming the system. At least THAT part of this story is no accident. But I cannot endorse nor defend this path to freedom.

No, not TV. This is the reality for friends and neighbors in my town. Sigh…….

Economics, Opinion, Politics

I know it’s complicated, but…

…we have to confront the evidence TOGETHER that the American economic model is broken. And we have to take MANY actions to fix it. It’s time to own our grown-up responsibilities and do our civic chores.

Our Spring Cleaning list is long, including tax reform, immigration reform, implementation of the JOBS Act (had to sneak that one in – my unabashed small-business/entrepreneur bias), financial reform, campaign finance reform… reform, reform, reform.

But first, let’s put a floor under our socio-economic disintegration and free-fall and raise the minimum wage. Let’s appreciate and reward the effort of our lowest paid compatriots. More importantly, lets help them to support their families themselves, with dignity.

When I think about the concept of income inequality (which I think I would prefer had instead been branded “income inequity”), for me it boils down to this (with thanks to my wife for bringing it up again and again over the years while I found my true north): I don’t believe anyone earns a million dollars a year (let alone multiples of that).

Overcompensating leaders disrespects all the help they get in support of their efforts. My 23 years in the restaurant business – 30 years in foodservice overall – gave me decades of experience working with those who support leadership and are not compensated nearly enough for their immense efforts and absolutely crucial contributions.

I know it’s complicated, but we could – we should – choose to make it simple: We’re all in this together. We all struggle at various times through life. And we’re all going to die. Let’s make those aspects of life we can control a little gentler, a little fairer, a little easier, a little more compassionate and humane. To begin on that path, let’s raise the minimum wage. Immediately.

For more grist on this subject, here’s an excellent piece from this past Sunday’s New York Times: “Low Wage Workers Are Finding Poverty Harder to Escape”

My Work, Videos

My second video for Fairbank and Perry Goldsmiths

Video

I’m the very part-time office manager for my wife’s jewelry shop in Concord, Massachusetts: Fairbank and Perry Goldsmiths, which used to be known as Goldsmiths Three.

I recently talked them into making some videos to show people how they do what they do, and perhaps sometimes explaining why.

I just finished video number two, below, on their very cool “Beach Dune Cuff Bracelet.” – If you don’t like the photos, video clips, or the music, well… they’re my fault!