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December 24 Carnival of the Capitalists

December 24, 2007 |

Greetings, gentlebeings, and welcome to the Chirstmas Eve edition of Carnival of the Capitalists, and the maiden voyage of The Journal Blog as host destination for same.

For those of you who are new to this place, this week’s Carnival is brought to you by The MicroEnterprise Journal, the nation’s only business news weekly that analyzes public policy, the economy and relevant academic research exclusively as all of those pertain to microbusinesses.

In spite of the fact that microbusinesses (defined as firms with fewer than five employees) comprise more than 90% of all U.S. firms and generate between 12% and 15% of GDP in any given year, relatively little is known about them — how they operate, what their policy needs are and where they fit into the broader economy — relatively little is known about them. My mission, which I chose to accept almost a decade ago, is to change that.

A few words about your friendly Journal Blogger as hostess of CotC: I have a lot of respect for this particular blog carnival and that manifests itself in the guiding principle that I’m after quality over quantity. For me, quality translates into posts that make me think. It is my hope that these selections will make you think, too.

Now then … on with the show.

Best of the bunch

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve become something of a Charles Green fan since discovering the Trust Matters blog via (you guessed it) the Carnival of the Capitalists. Charles is a guy you can turn to for a steady diet of thought-provoking stuff, and European Fish, the Commons, and Business posted at Trust Matters, is no exception.

(Of course, it also helps that your trusty Journal Blogger has written similar thoughts about the ascendancy of the bottom line over big picture societal needs in the not too terribly distant past … )

Also worthy of note

Maria Eugenia De Alejandro’s Motivating Employees, posted at Business Power Blog, also relates to our best of show, especially Maria’s observation that, “Many businesses have tunnel vision that leads straight to the bottom line, without much regard for the customer. That is seldom a great motivator for employees.”

And here is yet another way for manager to back away from the bottom line in favor of being human: be straight with your people and tell them the truth. Sounds rather quaint and old-fashioned but that is essentially the advice offered by Wayne Hurlbert in Improving morale: Open management is key posted at Blog Business World.

Did you know that your competitors can obtain patents that could block you from using your own innovative ideas in your products and services? Believe it or not, it happens. So, what can you do to protect yourself? Tom Colson at Securing Innovation discusses alternative strategies for innovation management in Protecting Innovations From Patents. (Incidentally, that title sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Which can be thought-provoking all by itself … )

Just in case you are looking for a nicely intellectual fight to pick with the relatives this holiday season, Leon Gettler offers some fodder for intergenerational warfare in End of the boomers? Bring on the leeches, posted at Sox First. Like most people, Leon makes the mistake of lumping Gen Jonsers in with Boomers, which I think detracts a bit from his argument, but it’s still an interesting (and wickedly fun) prognostication.

For those of you who may be a bit fed up with the seemingly endless prospect of pouring all your disposable income and your first-born male child into your gas tanks, James Hamilton of Econbrowser discusses why oil prices may have peaked in Wikipedia page on oil megaprojects. Party on and hope that he’s right.

Liz Fuller is another business blogger who often writes stuff that makes me think. This week, she offers us Women Entrepreneurs: The Value of Being Optimistic, posted at More Than WE Know.

Pretty much all the characteristics she says can be attributed to women entrepreneurs are, I have found, generally true of microbusiness/lifestyle business owners regardless of gender. Then, too, her article is an excellent starting place for what could be a really interesting discussion on the difference between, and relative merits of, optimism versus confidence, and where those two attributes overlap. More food for thought … yum!

From the newbie files

You might be amazed to know that people are still asking this question, given all the talk about the Information/Knowledge Economy, but a conversation with a relative prompts Kenton Newby to hold forth on the nuts and bolts of same in Can You Really Make Money Showing People “How To”?, posted at KentonNewby.com

Startups have to deal with marketing on their own. Budgets are small, resources are limited. Yet, making a mark is essential. Sudhanshu shares how some of them have done it in Marketing for startups, posted at Gyaan Sutra.

Other stuff

Those of you who are regulars here at The Journal Blog know that I’m a big one for that lovely ‘life meets work and vice versa’ stuff. So, it makes sense that Mark Riffey’s anecdote about the intersection between business ownership and Boy Scouting, as recounted in Does your business run at the speed of trust? posted at Business is Personal, should appeal to me.

Also note the Ringer quote early in the article. It sort of brings us back, full circle, to where we started, doesn’t it? It may be true that you won’t make any money if you don’t try to make money but at the same time, if you are focused on making money at the expense of absolutely everything else, eventually you are going to find ourself out on that limb with saw in hand — just because you think it’s too expensive to maintain the whole tree.

And, finally, in the interests of holiday appropriateness and plain old fun — and what is capitalism without a little fun mixed in — we have Kids Sue Santa Over Screwed Up Spreadsheets, posted at Small Business Trends by my good friend Anita Campbell.

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?

The next edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists will be hosted at SEO ROI on December 31st.

(o/~ What are you doing New Year’s, New Year’s Eve? o/~ There really is a song for everything.)

If you want to find out more about the carnival or how to submit your more brilliant posts or what’s involved in hosting, you’ll find all that at Carnival of the Capitalists HQ.

Happy holidays, all.

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Comments

12 Comments so far

  1. Carnival of the Capitalists » Blog Archive » December 24 CotC at The Journal Blog on December 24, 2007 10:59 am

    […] The Journal Blog at MicroEnterprise Journal presents the December 24 edition of Carnival of the Capitalists. […]

  2. cehwiedel on December 24, 2007 12:56 pm

    Well done for Christmas Eve! Now — where’s the terdunken?!?

  3. Liz Fuller on December 24, 2007 1:27 pm

    Hi Dawn
    Thanks for including my article, and your observations. In my research it appears that women tend to start mostly micro-businesses and lifestyle businesses, so that probably explains the overlap - those findings would be true for anyone drawn to micro-businesses.

    It’s an interesting question about optimism vs. confidence. In my article I was referring to optimism as defined by Martin Seligman which is,I think, a bit different than the common one.

    Seligman characterizes optimism as a view of setbacks as being temporary, specific, external, and hopeful.

    For example - poor holiday sales:

    thinking “The U.S. economy is sluggish right now - things will pick up after the new year” is the optimistic view;

    thinking “My timing is always bad - nobody ever wants to buy what I have to offer.” is the pessimistic view;

    I don’t know of studies that have measured optimism levels in entrepreneurs (I’d love to do one!) but my opinion is that entrepreneurs need to be predominantly optimistic to overcome setbacks, but also have some pessimism thrown in, in order to respond to true changes in the marketplace and gaps in their business.

    Happy Holidays,
    Liz

  4. Mark Riffey on December 24, 2007 2:18 pm

    Dawn,

    Thanks for including my post in your carnival.

    I get a lot of business lessons (and blog post ideas) out of my work with the Scouts.

    Plus its fun:)

    Mark

  5. The Journal Blogger on December 24, 2007 2:37 pm

    Liz, I don’t know of any studies of entrepreneurs and optimism, either, but I do know of one having to do with entrepreneurs and confidence.

    I’ll have to dig out the citation but the researchers were looking into risk-aversion in entrepreneurship. What they found was that, contrary to popular belief, entrepreneurs are actually slightly more risk averse than your average Joe. What distinguishes them is their perception of risk; things that are risky don’t look that risky to them because of their very high level of confidence in their ability to handle whatever adversity is thrown their way.

    Another measure of optimism, maybe?

  6. Liz Fuller on December 24, 2007 3:44 pm

    Hi Dawn
    I would definitely be interested in that study. Let me know if you find it. In the meantime, you’ve given me another area to explore within the psychology of success factors in entrepreneurs - thanks!
    Liz

  7. Mark Riffey on December 24, 2007 7:45 pm

    Liz,

    It’s managing risk, vs the complete aversion to risk that many people have.

    Entrepreneurs take calculated risks, not silly ones.

    Its also immunity to criticism (as opposed to ignoring it). Listening to it is one thing. Letting it bog you down or stop you from reaching your goals is quite another.

    Think of all the achievements that have occurred over time by people who did something just because someone told them “it cant be done”.

    Mark

  8. Liz Fuller on December 24, 2007 8:57 pm

    Hi Mark
    I like your distinction between having immunity to criticism as opposed to ignoring it. Sounds like not taking it personally, keeping what’s true and discarding what isn’t.

    Good practice and better than just blindly ignoring feedback.

    Liz

  9. Three Star Leadership Blog on December 26, 2007 6:58 pm

    12/26/07: A midweek look at the business blogs

    This week “midweek” is actually the day after Christmas which means two things. First, there are far less blog posts than usual. And second, even if there were the same number, I’ve been spending Christmas with loved ones and not on my usual persist…

  10. Char on December 27, 2007 4:37 am

    Dawn,

    Very good stuff, in keeping with the COTC tradition. And thank you very much for the very kind words.

    Do I detect a fellow inhabitant of the ‘Cuse?

    Charlie Green
    Trusted Advisor Associates

  11. The Journal Blogger on December 27, 2007 8:46 am

    Charles,

    I guess I should have known that all that brilliance had to be coming from somewhere in the neighborhood. I’m not exactly in the ‘Cuse, I’m a couple of hours away but still close enough to enjoy most of that lovely lake effect snow.

    Thanks for stopping by!

  12. Last Carnival Round-up of the Year! - More Than WE Know - Information, Inspiration and Support for Women Entrepreneurs on December 30, 2007 6:01 am

    […] resolution found support at the Carnival of the Capitalists hosted this week at the Journal Blog . Can You Really Make Money Showing People “How To”?, […]

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