Gracie Communications

Last week I was reminded of a valuable lesson about being an entrepreneur.

You don’t always have to do it yourself.

I was helping my youngest daughter, Helen, work her stand at Lemonade Day Indianapolis’ kick-off event. She’s been a part of Lemonade Day from the start and I am wildly proud that she has made all the decisions, secured the venue. picked the charity beneficiary, and designed the booth all by herself.  She was pretty proud too, until she heard that her total revenue was way under the other kick-off event participants.

This wasn’t a case of the other kids having Daddy Did It All Syndrome (for the most part). The real difference was the other kids found locations using the resources of the Lemonade Day organizers. They were inside when we were out in the rain last year. They were working with corporate office support and marketing efforts.

Helen and I talked all the way home about what she was going to do differently at this May’s event. She is still going to raise money for Joy’s House, but she is going to get help from the organizers in picking a higher-traffic location. She is going to go to one of the preparation workshops. And she is going to borrow ideas she learned from the other kids at the event, including adding some entertainment to draw people in.

My 10-year-old’s story reminds me of my own (and many others in business for themselves). Entrepreneurs go into business for themselves to fulfill a lifelong passion or a dream. They’ve always wanted to be their own boss. To make the rules. They are excited every day to get to work. It is their great idea or unique way of providing a service and no one is going to tell them what to do or how to do it.

Here’s the rub. When you do it all yourself, you miss out on others’ great ideas on how to make your great idea even better.

Who should you be partnering with, listening to and emulating in your business?

I am guilty of moving too fast, of planning the next big thing, of looking forward instead of being in the moment. That is why it is nice when I am reminded to stop…reflect…give thanks. The wonderful Nila Nealy (@nilanealy) reminds me of this often. Most recently with a reminder to participate in the Epic Thanks Tweetsgiving 2010. (more…)

(Image from www.worklifeseesaw.com)

On Thursday, I attended the Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference. I was disappointed about the sparse crowd, especially after keynote speaker Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the Wisconsin School of Business, shared his views about the concept of place in the Internet era.  (more…)

A colleague of mine likes to start meetings out by saying, “If I’m the smartest person in the room, we are all in trouble.”

He is actually a very confident person who knows a lot about a lot of things in the communications and technology industries. But he also knows there are a lot of things he doesn’t know squat about.  (more…)

The word bumble has gotten a bad rap.  In fact, I didn’t even know the word could be a verb until I read Tom Hodgkinson’s article on being idle in the August issue of Real Simple.  

Bumbling means “wandering around without purpose.” And guess what? Not everyone who bumbles is an idiot.

As Hodgkinson notes, “Children are good bumblers.”  Poets and plein air painters are natural bumblers. I personally think graphic artists are good at it too. As a recovering workaholic (okay, maybe not fully recovered), I have a real appreciation for those who know how to enjoy a good bumble.

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