To stick with my "entrepreneur as surfer" metaphor, we are in the middle of
a sea change in our history. Both with the election next week and with the financial system problems and their effects on the rest of the economy. I am optimistic even though I know many who are hurting with lower sales. I like to think of this as a broader wake up call and a focusing on problems that many of us have known about for a while, including our addiction to fossil fuel, and over reliance on tourism and real estate. Time to "shred" some waves.
Psychology is critical in all of this so
do not sucumb to gloom and doom! (Let these spirits out and bid them farewell Halloween night).
With fear banished, the number one place to start is to think about repositioning what you have or create new value oriented products and services that you can offer to existing customers. How does what you do help people who are on a budget? Then explore selling to new markets, e.g. Japan via the Internet. My favorite guerilla marketing website is that of Maui's own Bob Sommers'
http://recognizedexpert.com. If you have not done so already, also check out Constant Contact, the e-mail marketing service that this letter is coming to you from. We have several people on Maui who can help you implement this quickly.
There are more approaches and people, and in coming weeks we will bring your attention to them in a series that I am tenatively calling
"The Tough Get Going" (let me know if you have other ideas). This will incorporate modules from the NxLevel series and use both face-to-face and online venues.
For better or worse, the banking system, especially in Hawaii, has not allowed too many small businesses to get over-extended with debt. Hawaii's banks are in relatively good shape and are continuing to make business loans. BE IN REGULAR COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR BANKER. There are very
concrete proposals (from Obama, and just today from NY's Senator Schummer) in the works to make it
easier to get S.B.A. guarantees (eliminating fees, increasing amounts guaranteed, etc.). Schummer hopes to get this passed right after the election. They will require decent credit and solid business plans (which we can help with). I expect there will also be programs to help community loan funds like MEO and Lokahi Pacific.
This is a good time to
update cash flow projections, and perhaps request a line of credit, or increase an existing line of credit if you are experiencing lower revenues and a cash crunch. Let me know if you would like help with this. We have some new software, interestingly called Optimist that we can use to help diagnose your financial situation--if it is not clear otherwise. Also, in case it is not handy, here is a link to my real
simple cash flow template.There is a lot of innovation going on in Hawaii along with private investment and to support this we are bringing back the
Maui Enterprise Forum on November 18th, a Tuesday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. There will be lots of organized networking, and three presentations with panels focusing on:
Pacific Biodiesel (
http://biodiesel.com)- raising investment for a new Big Island Biodiesel plant.
Bamboo Technologies (
http://bambootechnologies.com) - building homes with bamboo that only requires five years to grow.
International Underwater Explorations (
http://oceanglobe.org) - with a geographic information system to help with siting ocean energy projects, ocean farming, environmental protection, and more.
This event is co-sponsored with the
Hawaii Venture Capital Association and
Hawaii Angels along with other Maui organizations that I am recruiting. Lunch with
Catering from Soup to Nuts. To register go to this
link or call 808-875-2402
Let both Pat Diaz and myself know how you are doing and join us at these immediate or other future events. Also feel free to contact us about a consultation.
David Fisher
Maui Center Direct
Hawaii SBDC Network
