At Roundpeg, we love interns, so I was delighted when Lindsey Paho, a writer at Professional Intern offered to send us a guest post.

If you’re one of those brave souls at the helm of one of the United States’ more than 5.6 million small businesses with employees other than yourself, you solve problems every hour. Some of these problems have become routine, but others loom large, such as how to expand without wrecking an already tight budget. Even more daunting is figuring out a way to grow your own knowledge base to effectively manage that small business when it’s not so small anymore. One often overlooked means of approaching both challenges is through hiring an intern who’s working on their online MBA. They can bring to your company more than affordable labor; they can pave your way to being a better owner.

“Intern? Isn’t that for Fortune 500 companies?”

Good question, and the answer is “no.” While major corporations do hire plenty of college interns, for the most part, they select from the best of scores of applicants and place the intern in departments applicable for the intern’s studies and interests, but what is a small business but a very much scaled down version of a large business? Both IBM and your company have similar goals, such as making a profit and maximizing the return on investment. Interns and companies, large and small, enjoy a symbiotic relationship that is measured best by the way in which the intern is employed at work.

Why an online MBA candidate? Two reasons: One is that an intern taking distance learning courses is more than likely someone with some real-life experience he or she can bring to your work, and two, the relationship you develop with your intern can inform you of options you can take to someday pursue that MBA you’ve always wanted to add to your business card. Ask around your contacts and generate a short list of schools offering internet classes leading to an MBA, then narrow your focus on finding the right intern.

As you think about the next big step for your company, think about the resources you’ve relied on so far, and those you’ll need to expand. So far, you and perhaps a small cadre of associates have carried the business on your product know-how and judicious decision making. What you probably don’t have, though, is a couple of decades of experience in marketing, business planning, finance and other subjects whose most current best practices are being taught to – you guessed it – MBA students. Interview your candidate and find out which ones have budding knowledge in the subjects you need and you’ll have found an intern who has a good connection with subject matter experts in those topics they teach to MBA candidates.

We’ve all heard horror stories about interns not getting paid fairly, or not at all, and we’ve heard about interns “fetching” coffee for obnoxious managers. That’s not going to be you, of course. Bring your intern in as more consultant than flunky. Find out what skills or experiences your intern wants from the relationship and negotiate how best to meet those desires. Set your own expectations right at the get-go and let them know what you’d like to learn from their knowledge and access to resources. Develop for your intern projects that you’ve put off due to lack of resources and support them in achieving the goals of that project.

A mutually beneficial intern experience can set the groundwork for the successful growth of your company. Part of that success will no doubt include you, the business owner, updating your own skills and staying at the lead of current industry developments. More than a few hard-working small business owners have determined that their own MBA would provide the foundation for that subsequent expansion of their business, the planned growth of their scope and the major future investment that puts you into the big league after you’ve wisely managed your company through those first seven to ten years. The lessons you learn from your intern through a productive partnership, not some temporary make-work episode, can open doors you may not know exist while you’re helping build a student’s own future.

Something such as Lindsey Paho loves writing and business. She is considering her online mba and enjoys blogging in her free time. 

Owning a business is about so much more then just what you started the business to do.  In today’s guest post Brad Farris  talks about what your job description really is.

When I speak to groups of business owners and I ask them to raise their hand if they have job descriptions for their team members; about 80% of the hands go down. Now keep your hands up if you have a job description for your job, usually one or two remain up. If we know that job descriptions provide focus and accountability for our team members; and that focus and accountability helps them to perform better, why wouldn’t you have a job description for your own job.

But what is the business owner’s job, exactly? Is it to do everything that anyone else isn’t doing? How do I know that I’m doing a good job as a business owner?

There are four roles that I have found define the success or difficulties that a business owner experiences. Applying focus to these three tasks, and learning to master them will set you up for small business success.

 The owner must define the strategy.

Every owner must have a point of view about where the business is going, and what resources and activities it’s going to take to get there. In business schools they call that strategy As the leader of the business your team needs you to communicate your vision of what the future looks like so that they can cooperate with you to work toward that vision. No one else has the complete view of the business, and so no one else can do this job.

The owner must create and maintain the company culture.

Is there a “way we do things around here”? Does your company have a certain “feel”? That’s your culture and it’s part of what will drive your success. As you add new people to the team you need to make sure that they become part of your culture and share your values. Don’t let anyone else change the company culture to fit their style.

The owner must hire, train and manage key team members.

Your company culture and vision are realized not just through your actions, but through the actions of your key team members. Late at night you don’t want to wonder what those folks are up to, or how they are doing their job. You want to select and train them yourself, so that you are sure that they are doing their job well.

Choosing the right key team members, and training and managing them will go a long way to securing your company’s success.

The owner is the most effective salesperson for the company.

Regardless of your sales skills and training, you have some inherent advantages that make you the best sales person your company has. You have credibility, people believe you because you are the boss. You have flexibility, you can make a deal happen on the spot. Your passion got you into this business, and it’s going to show with every prospect. That doesn’t mean you have to sell every deal, but be involved, especially with the big deals. Never delegate the sales role completely.

That’s my list, what’s on yours? I’d love to hear roles that you are filling that you think only you can fill.

Don’t bat cleanup, taking on all the tasks that someone else either can’t or won’t do. Get the help you need to be able to focus on those things that only you can do.

Want to compare what you are doing to what hundreds of other business owners are doing? Anchor Advisors is surveying business owners like you in an effort to gauge your attitudes and actions, and how they correlate to your business performance. It’s a short survey – just 10 minutes – and one lucky respondent will win a new Kindle.

If you’re game, then head on over and take 10 minutes to take our survey.

Brad Farris is a small business advisor with Anchor Advisors, Ltd. in Chicago, Il. Since 2001 Anchor Advisors has been helping creative professional firms to grow, by helping them clarify their business purpose, get the most from their people, keep their eye on key performance measures, and implement consistent processes. Brad is also the author of The Business Owner’s Champion: 6 Practices to Build your Nerve and your Business.

Join us this Wednesday, August 10, when we talk to Will Hardison, founder of Mediaplug, an Indianapolis web design firm.

On this episode of More Than a Few Words, Will will share some of the lessons he’s learned in the three years he’s owned his own business. He will also give business owners insights into how he utilizes Facebook ads for both Mediaplug and the company’s clients.

New and potential business owners won’t want to miss this episode. Tune in to learn how to take advantage of the opportunities-and avoid the mistakes-new business owners encounter as they start up.

You can listen to the program here:

Are men and women really that different or do we just have a tendency to just focus our differences instead of our similarities? We are excited to announce that we will be chatting with Hazel M. Walker, the “Referral Strategist” on this week’s radio show. We will be discussing Business Networking and Sex, the subject of Hazel’s new book, coming out in 2012.

Do you have any comments, questions, or tips about business networking and sex to share? Post it here, send it to one of us on Twitter or Facebook, or call in during the show at (805) 285 -9865. Remember to use the #hashtag #MTFW on Twitter, so we can find your comments easily.

The call will be live from 11:30 – 11:00 on Wednesday, July 27. You will be able to listen to the program from my station on BlogTalkRadio.com

And if you miss the live show, you will still be able to hear a recorded version of the broadcast here.

Recently, I attended the Business Marketing Association’s February event. The speaker  was John Luginbill of The Heavyweights, who discussed increasing your company’s value. One of the lessons I took away from his presentation was that all of us-CEOs, managers, and even entry-level employees-own our own company.

The real lesson is that we all have a personal brand, and it’s up to us to decide how much that brand is worth. Every time we learn a new skill, acquire knowledge, or exceed expectations, we add value to our brand. At the same time, just like with multinational companies, a personal brand can be destroyed in a matter of moments.

What is your personal brand? How is that brand viewed by others? Most importantly, how much is your own personal brand worth? As an informal study, I asked my Twitter followers for their feedback on what the “Jay Mattingly” brand represents. My responses ranged from charismatic and energetic, to friendly, to my personal favorite “Master of B.S.” Asking people I know how they view me gave me some great insight into which traits I need to hone and work on in order to continue to increase the value of my personal brand.

It is never too early to start cultivating your personal brand identity. Unfortunately, for many of us in the early stages of our career, we may not be sure how we want to define our brand. The good news – brands, both company and, evolve over time.

What’s your perspective on maintaining a personal brand? And what have you done recently to add value to your “company?”

Can your business run with no one in the office?

On days where inclement weather prevents members of the team from getting to the office, it’s easy to lose a day or two of productivity. But planning ahead, and leveraging available technology, can help limit lost time. In fact, the Roundpeg marketing crew has gotten so good at getting work done from different locations, we hardly skip a beat.  The ice storms a few weeks ago really tested our skill.

Here are a few tips to help:

• Send yourself key information: whether it’s passwords, contact lists, or graphics, that way you can get work done at home. If we know we might not be able to make it in the office, we email ourselves documents, put large pictures in dropbox, and take home our password database. Lorraine even makes a carbon copy of our server on portable hard drive, so she has all of our project work (past and present) at her fingertips.
• Use web based email on and contact management tools.   With gmail and other web mail tools, your contact list and email history follows you wherever you go.  At Roundpeg, we rely on our AddressTwo data base. In addition to contact information, we can track contact history.  That way, if Lorraine and I are both working on a call list, no one gets called twice, and no one gets left out.
• If you work in a collaborative environment, you don’t need to be in the same room: Skype and GoToMeeting are just two ways people leverage technology to get work done from wherever they are.
• Stay in contact: Our team schedules 2 or 3 brief 10 minute calls throughout the day to catch up and make sure we’re all on the same page.
• Have back-up work: Even if I forget something I wanted to work on at the office or lose power, I still plan tasks I can accomplish (like, say, writing blog posts)

These tips should help you remain productive, no matter where you decide to work from. What other “remote working” tips do you have?

We are excited to announce that we have two seminars scheduled for January of 2011. We’re bringing back two of our most popular classes, “From Random Strangers to Raving Fans” and “Forget Henry Ford”.

From Random Strangers to Raving Fans: This class will be team-taught by Lorraine Ball and Matt Nettleton, a sales coach at Sandler Training Trustpointe. The class will teach participants to “use a system to create the right messages for the right people at the right time.”

Topics discussed will include how important it is that sales and marketing support each other.  After all, the best marketing plan in the world won’t help you if you can’t seal the deal, and the best sales strategy won’t help you if you don’t have leads in the first place!

Check out the details below. Hope to see you there!

January 19, 8:00 – 10:00  a.m.

Sandler Training Trustpointe Offices, 6666 East 75th Street, Indianapolis

Seating is limited, so be sure to  register soon by filling out the contact form below:

Forget Henry Ford: 5 Easy Lessons for a Tough Economy: On Wednesday, January 26,  Nick Carter, President of AddressTwo and Jay Mattingly, Director of Marketing at Roundpeg will be teaching a seminar on how new business owners can navigate in the unsafe waters of a tough economy. The seminar will be held from 8:30-10 AM at the Trustpointe offices (6666 East 75th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250).

New business owners know just how treacherous starting a new business can be. What many do NOT realize however, is that in addition to being filled with danger, the road to successful business ownership is also filled with opportunity.

In this FREE 90-minute seminar, Nick and Jay will help participants uncover some of the tricks micro entrepreneurs can use to maximize their chances of prosperity. Topics covered will range from why business owners shouldn’t buy ads to why they need to forget everything they know about the way big companies run.

Participants simply have to register. To sign up, fill out the registration form below:

For the first time, tips from renowned public speaker and small business advocate Lorraine Ball comes to you! In this 30-minute webinar, you will discover how to  avoid the most common pitfalls on the road to small business success.

Mistakes Business Owners Make is a FREE 30 minute  interactive webinar with time for you to get your questions asnswered about the business planning process.  Whether you are just getting started, or hope to fine tune your existing plan, you are sure to walk away from the session with several practical tips you can apply to your business today.

When:  Monday, October 11, 2010

Time: 4:30 – 5:00

There is no fee to participate, but reservations are required. You can register by filling out the form below.  You will receive an email with dial-in instructions, and a link to our free business plan outline.

Often when we hear about someone who is extraordinary successful, we step back and say, of course, he/she is extraordinary. They have skills and abilities well beyond ordinary people.   They have gifts which make them successful.  But I would argue, that real success comes from extraordinary passion more than anything else.

In this episode of the Roundpeg Vlog, I share the story of  someone who achieved extraordinary success because of his extraordinary passion.

Roundpeg Video Blog – Chris Cambell from Another Cool Design on Vimeo.

One of the things I learned when I first started Roundpeg, was that my internal clock was completely reset.  Suddenly, I was awake when the world slept, and surprisingly, so were many of my small business owner friends.

Even after more than eight years in business, I still find myself awake with a new idea at 4:00 am.  Is it a conspiracy which keeps us awake?

Is there something magical about that time?  Storyteller and poet Rives shares his thoughts on 4:00 in this funny piece from TED. Of course it is best if you are watching it at 4:00 am!