All my life I have had a natural tendency to dream about the future, about what could be.  I also like to strategize about what it would take to get there and most of my life growing up I was told to get my head out of the clouds and get to work.  It happened in school, at home and as a teen it even happened at work.  Now I know this sounds bad and maybe you can here the, "Poor is me" fiddle playing but it's not.  The truth was that I didn't perform well as a kid growing up.  I didn't get my homework done, I didn't get my chores done and I didn't always do well at my job early in life, unless it meant talking to people.  That was always something I had no trouble in producing.

A Gap is what happens when people forget to bring together and include vital parts of the whole.  Companies get gaps when they fail to recognize and integrate key parts of running their organizations.  This can happen with Vision, Strategy and Tactics.

How can two things that appear to be opposites or at least apposed both be true?  I don't know... but when they are we call it a paradox and if you want to be successful in business and in life you need to be able to live with Paradox's. 

We see Paradoxes all around us, here are a few examples:

• Grace and Truth
• Free will and Destiny
• Old ideas and new ideas

A paradox is something that really troubles us.  We look at it and say, "They both can't be true", but they are.  The most common problem we find ourselves in is we think we have to choose between two concepts and many times we don't.  It's not “either” but “both”.  The mother is being kind when she disciplines her child for doing something wrong but the child doesn't think so.  To an adult discipline and kindness can both be true but the child says it's either one or the other.  You’re either being kind or you’re disciplining me.

When I was young I hated rules and in a funny way I loved rules.  I hated them because they were limiting and I was creative and "innovative" as a child.  Not a characteristic every parent longs for in their offspring.  I eventually realized that I loved rules and structure because they allowed me to understand the boundaries of where I could go and be successful.  Just like in any game I couldn't win unless I knew the rules.  Once I learned the rules I then was free to create my own path.  

Business rules are not the rigid things that tie you up and rob life of excitement and fun.  May it never be...  No, what business rules are or do is define the treacherous path of business so you don't kill yourself and therefore take you completely out of business.  You must pay attention to the rules in business or you will die a slow and sometimes agonizing death. 

Probably the number one thing most companies do not understand is that marketing is not a department or an activity but is what every part of a business is about.  We call it the Marketing Chain and it is what connects every part of the business to a single focus, creating a customer.  Isn't that what we are all in business for?  Don't we all need customers to stay in business?  Peter Drucker, the father of management and most other things to do with business said that a business's main purpose was only two things, innovation and creating customers. 

This blog entry is not encouraging and it is not uplifting so beware.  If on the other hand you want to go forward with your eyes wide open then read on.  Kathryn and I believe that having your own business is a great thing but it is also one of the hardest things we have ever done.  We believe with all our heart that if you are not compelled to pursue a dream to have your own business or to create something significant in the world then work for someone else.  You will save you and your loved ones a lot of heartache and a lot of money.  This is part of the shpeal that we give people thinking they are going to start a business and it starts with the advice, "Weigh the cost."

I like to tell the story about the plumber who has bad pipes at home or the cobbler whose children all need new shoes.  I like to tell these stories because for a very long time my wife, who is my business partner, and I have had bad pipes at home. 

What I mean by this is that for most of our formative years in business we didn't pay much attention to our own marketing and we didn't execute our own business affairs in the same way we advise our clients.  I don't completely understand why 

I've been thinking recently about the main points my clients all need to know.  This last week I had one client contact me and tell me that they are shutting their entrprenurial venture down because it will cost them too much.  They are two Moms that had an idea and didn't realize the cost.  They invented a cool thing for parents and their kids and even spent several thousands of dollars having it developed in China but didn't realize what it would take to go to market.