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by Alan J. Wiessner
"Just in case you haven't heard, the Wallenda factor refers to the fear of falling or failing. Shortly after Karl Wallenda fell to his death in 1978 (traversing a 75-foot high wire in downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico), his wife, also an aerialist, discussed that fateful San Juan walk, “perhaps his most dangerous.” She recalled: “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope.”
Life is like traversing a tight rope. If you think you need a safety net, it won’t be long before you fall. Live your life without a safety net, or be prepared to live your life close to the ground.
Certainly as a business we have operated with a safety net, as dictated by the standards by which we must comply, SSAE16 and PCI compliance, but over the years, we have always sought to be a technology leader. We strive to offer "insanely great" software, to coin the phrase used by Steve Jobs.
Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist says, “Pessimism is complacency." I think I would have to say at times I have exercised pessimism in certain situations. I can relate it to looking in the mirror each morning and thinking, “I’m not getting any younger or thinner, for that matter.”
Last year I spoke of challenges. This year, our 24th year in business, I believe anything's possible! Last year I spoke of good fortunes, we were fortunate enough to have earned another year in business. I said I was proud of the intellectual property (IP) and talent we had. This year I am confident our talent pool here is second to none. Everyone has bought into The Rational Optimist theme, “Everybody is working for everybody else.” Whereas last year I said opportunities present challenges.
We have faced those challenges. We have conquered many and we are prepared to conquer the future. While politicians in Washington scrum over the economy and jobs, free market goes out and creates 100 mpg cars, even driverless cars. We need to tell our politicians…anything’s possible. This year we will focus again on making our products easier to use, easier to install and cloud ready. Inside Integra, we will continue to concentrate on developing and acquiring better tools to do our jobs in a more productive environment. Last year’s message was, “Attitude is everything.”
Celebrating twenty-four (24) years in business March 7th, 2012, we will continue to encourage a positive attitude in the workplace, with our customers, partners and suppliers. Everybody is working for everybody else (click on the picture to the left for the video) because again.... anything’s possible. Finally, last year I predicted growth would be our next greatest challenge and we grew significantly. We remain well positioned to take advantage of those significant gains in 2012 and beyond. Alan J. Wiessner, President and CEO, Integra Business Systems, Inc.
I’ll leave you with a great although somewhat unsettling video (click on the photo) and when you feel that wave of pessimism coming on, remember anything’s possible, well almost anything...
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit." -- Aristotle
I just walked into the office, albeit reluctantly, on a gorgeous made to order day in the middle of December, here in the Tampa Bay area. I looked wistfully over at my new wheels, (cycling is my hobby), then down at my feet. I happened to be wearing flip-flops and shorts. You see, I’m the chief cook and bottle washer for a software factory. I like to think we make stuff and we do, Made in America, no off-shoring. No need for a safety hat, goggles or for that matter shoes. In the world of brainiacs and geekdom, extremely causal beats clothing optional, so t-shirts, shorts and sandals serve us well.
I don’t know about you, but doesn’t feel like every year the holiday season and Christmas comes earlier; like Santa and his reindeer are out trick-or-treating? Maybe it is because of technology. We’re on Internet time. I think my time-slipping is lack of concentration. All these distractions like 12 smart phones a ring-a-ding-dinging, 11 tablets a play-play-playing, both are tweet-tweet-tweeting… and what’s with these Angry Birds? It’s hard to focus on one thing for too long when you’re running in so many directions. Time flies!
I suppose I’m just the Grinch. Each year it gets harder for me to get all excited about the holiday season. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t snow in the Tampa Bay area. Christmases in Wisconsin was certainly different. I used to live there. No regrets. Now it’s a nice place to visit.
I need to remind myself. Tis’ the season! Time we are afforded to share with loved ones. So I’m going to take the time. I hope you can too.
by Carl Gallo
I was greeted with temperatures around 109 degrees in Telgucegapita, Honduras (weather).
We had no running water, and certainly no air conditioning, but I was also greeted with smiles and hugs from little girls such as Michelle and Sarahé with me in picture.
We ate rice, tortillas and refried beans every day, but we had the privilege of having food and breaking bread with those same children.
We sat on the floor and ran in the yard and went swimming in a river that we in the States would snub our noses at, but sitting, running and swimming was never so much fun as it was with those little, giddy girls.
In the picture to the right (click on thumbnail) notice the barbed wire at the top of the concrete fence that boarders the home in the background – along with a guard dog, that is their protection against intruders. For more information on crime in Honduras.
This was my first trip getting down and dirty to a country such as this, and I hope it is not my last.
I have been thinking long and hard about how I can help…what can I do to make a difference every time I re-visit Honduras and the orphanages?
Besides bringing supplies and clothing and offering financial assistance, I want to start a bicycle ministry. Free bikes, with multiple seats, where both the father and mother could pedal. Tike bikes, tires and repair services. Doesn’t that sound great? Todo para la Gloria a Dios!
I don’t know how to go about doing such a thing, but you could bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be making some phone calls to find out. I’ve had a couple of chats with a Christian bike enthusiast who has great experience in manufacturing and has connections with bike part importers. Carlos Byrne – fluent in Spanish and English and he wants to help. On the surface, our game plan is to set up an assembly operation in Honduras and train the older boys at the orphanage to put them together. We’d order the bike parts from China and have them sent to Honduras. Simple, cruiser bikes – just 2 styles…unisex adult and child. No gears, one speed, fat, knobby tires for the rough terrain, fat, cushioned seats, all the same color.
I’ll keep you posted.
Salud,
Carl L. Gallo
There are actually two orphanages with whom we are associated – the first is a small group of only 10 to 15 girls. http://eternalfamilyproject.org/. The second is about 90 children, both boys and girls – http://wwh2h.org/
Carl and Kathi Gallo have six children of their own, and one granddaughter 6 months old. Their four oldest children are adults, leaving them with two high school students at home. Kathi does a wonderful job hosting and feeding Mission teams of 4 to 14 at a time from around the world at their home, 4 to six times each year. They are constantly looking for opportunities to leave this world a better place.
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I joined my Dad with his company, AC Forms as a sales rep in 1974. We were a force of two. My Mom was the part time administrative support person and the mother of six. I was the future. It was a shaky start. My job was to get new business. I used the phone to solicit appointments. I can remember my voice quaked and my message was ill-prepared. After exhausting all legitimate leads I was proffered, by phone, I hit the road.
My first cold call, “cold “ being the vernacular used for an unsolicited visit on an unsuspecting business to make a sales pitch.
I was one of the major contributors as to why there are so many “No Solicitors” sign on doors.
Like the polyester plaid I was wearing, rejection isn’t my strong suit. I have to admit there were days I could not face the day ahead without becoming physically ill, cramps and vomiting, anticipating the rejection that inevitably lay ahead.
For better or worse, most of the businesses I “solicited” on the south side of Chicago, were unaccustomed to a 21 year old young man in polyester and a “pleather” briefcase showing up at their door. My first “sales call” and I use the term loosely, required considerable surveillance. I drove around the block several times. In the end, it was a relief to just to be dismissed. To hear a simple “no thanks” was a victory, of sort. I had broken the sound barrier. I had made contact with the other side. Soon, I was making 20 cold calls in a day.
Thankfully gas was 30 cents a gallon! My father would get a call from someone I had visited and he would say, “Yes, that’s my son, he’s like manure, he’s spread all over the place.” The message was loud and clear, I needed to take the next step, get to the next level.
Speaking of manure, here's a great joke from Ronald Reagan, only takes a minute, during one of his speeches. Precious really. Good clean fun!
I needed to convince my prospects I wasn’t just another pretty face in plaid polyester. My contacts were bewildered, annoyed, amused, indifferent or thankfully, on rare occasion, sympathetic to my pitch. It’s simply amazing. I became accustomed to the word“no”. I managed to solicit a cadre of variations theme to the extent I began to expect and anticipate the response. I learned to take a “no” and solicit another. As my skin thickened and the manure piled higher, I was able to garner a “maybe” here and there and occasionally a yes! It was the “ying and the yang” thing, “Yes means No” to the extent a Tibetan monk would have been proud.
Later, as a regional director at NCR Corp. at the sage age of 28 years, where I managed more than 70 neophyte sales reps in 10 states, I became well known for the expression, “lose more orders”. My mantra was the more orders you lose, the more opportunities you have to win. Spread that manure! Well not exactly...
Anyway, my dad fired me. he put me out of my misery! His too. He said I needed more experience. He was right. I was keeping him too busy spinning his wheels. At the time, I was devastated. I finished the blueberry pancakes my Mom had made me. I left town to seek employment near my fiancé, in Racine, WI. I stayed with the in-laws while looking for work.
I painted their house for $70 bucks, but I painted their windows shut, so we were even. I found a job right before I was evicted. But there's more to the story...
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The number 23 certainly doesn't solicit much sensation. Not like 25 or 50, still a milestone all the same for many businesses, especially today on when we are all on twitter time. 140 characters or less now defines us!
From his book, Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office, Todd G. Buchholtz, quotes a line from a futuristic movie and someone saying, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads, we just need people made of the right stuff.”
He goes on to say, “One of the statistics out there is that 33 percent of all new businesses fail within the first two years. That number is much higher when you look at the first five years.”
There are a lot of articles, books and blogs out there portraying entrepreneurship in the same sentence with risk, blind luck, or just plain foolish. Many of the pundits will never know first-hand the emotional roller coaster ride.
Well let me be your Garmin. I can take you there.
There are hundreds of thousands of small business entrepreneurs that are made of the “right stuff.” I formed Integra Business Systems, Inc. March 7th, 1988. Looking back, it was, the most frightening, yet most enjoyable year, I had experienced professionally, for some time. Funny, since I was unemployed and unemployable.
For more than a year, my corporate headquarters occupied the guest bedroom in the same house we still own and occupy today. When I look back on how I survived and managed to squeak out a living those first few years I have to say it had to do with confidence and faith in myself and the support of my family. Yeah, we were scared. I don’t want you to think I’m bragging. I have never done anything heroic. I have made sacrifices, but nothing on the same level of a police officer, fireman or soldier. Tongue in cheek, maybe I have potential? Maybe in my next life?
As is the case with many small business start-ups, entrepreneurs, I had to liquidate all my savings; then borrow from friends and family to make ends meet. I borrowed from credit cards, transferred funds from one card to the next, worked the low percentage offers, played the shell game with credit cards. Yet, I never defaulted on a credit card or a loan.
My experience at NCR Corp. and subsequently at a start-up, North American Business Supply (NABS), operating as a subsidiary of a small bank data-processing company, became invaluable, learning to make something from nothing at all; learning to trust my own instincts, even in the face of overwhelming doubt.
One of the important things I have learned after over 35 years in this business is “don’t burn bridges”. Often times the organization you dislike the most is composed of people you like the most. Many of my business associates from my NCR and NABS days kept the faith and helped me build a line of products and services for whom I hold undying loyalty.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Buchholz observed the CEOs who’s lives he explored all had one thing in common, “At some point they all tumbled into failure and heard trusted friends whisper, “Quit.”
Most small business owners and entrepreneurs will tell you the word “quit” just isn’t in their vocabulary. And that shapes the American dream after all, does it not?
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Business is improving, despite all the obstacles in this unpredictable economy that remain and those ahead of us. This is largely self-fulfilling prophecy as our engine runs on premium personnel and our management team isn’t half-bad either.
We have invested a great deal in new products and new markets. I’m a big fan of Alan Kay’s expression, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
I guess you could say this message comes somewhat diluted by the BP oil spill. Accidents, like the BP oil spill and natural disasters are unpredictable but they are going to happen. I can see the raw and gut-wrenching effects as they unfold for our neighbors in the Gulf States and the Florida Panhandle. We are certainly not exempt from the fallout. We are also far more fortunate.
There’s little one can do in the moment but there is much that can be done to either prevent an occurrence or deal as effectively as possible with the results. Unless of course, your government gets in the way. That’s a whole other topic.
I believe we are as well prepared as we can be to limit the impact of most natural disasters. Arguably we are and will be impacted on a financial and personal level as well. To what extent will be born out by the actions, performance and lessons learned by others. Certainly, we are far more fortunate.
There is still no consensus on when and where the economy will improve. I spend a great deal of time measuring and evaluating circumstances as they may affect our business.
You can watch Fox News or CNN but our success or failure has little or nothing to do with the economy, politicians or other outside factors. It has to do with you and me. It has to do with the quality and functionality of our products and services. It has to do with how we deliver our products and services! It has to do with how we choose and treat our customers and our partners.
We are nothing to big business or big government in terms of our success or failure. We are everything onto ourselves. We will not succeed or fail due to outside influences. We will only fail if we are cannot deliver excellence on all levels, products, customer service, implementation and ongoing support.
Conversely, big business and big government need us to succeed. Theirs has become a global problem. They have simply ignored the entrepreneur; unless, of course, the entrepreneur is holding the glass slipper. Small businesses are mostly carriages of pumpkins and mice out there delivering the goods. There are very few Cinderella stories. Once delivered, even when the glass slipper fits we continue working well past the ballroom festivities which has become, as intended, a fantasy. We are soon forgotten. When the carriage of big government and horses of big business are stabled and their cats are away, the mice, small business people, you and I, will come out to play. Small business can be very resourceful, if left alone.