Cash is King!

The economic downturn that we have faced over eighteen plus months has truly been a litmus test for all. And when I say all, I truly mean ALL. From the most obvious, businesses, to marriages, people, organizations, relationships, attributes have all been tested, for better and for worse. And as they say, you can tell and learn a lot about a person from how they act and react when faced with adversity. And since a lot of us in this great area are in business, it’s times like these when business men are put to the test. My business partner and close friend, Martin Porter, frequently brings up scalability. This is a term that is often times overlooked, and when our economy, and financial systems take a hit like they have during our economies latest recession, it is not only crucial, but vital. And while scalability is something that needs to be of focus and practiced no matter what the times are like, there is no better time to start when things are ghastly. At a time when money is just not available, businesses have had to reflect upon themselves as to what there normal course of business is, and discover alternative avenues of cash flow, while keeping expenses relatively flat. This can be a daunting task for some, but for those that can think outside of the box, this can be the difference between closing your doors and keeping them open. As any business man knows, cash is king, and at a time when cash flow is evasive scalability is a necessity.

full disclosure: please email me your thoughts and/or opinions at  btomich@flvllc.com

Making a Home of Our Concrete Jungle

Being a current member of the South Park community, a graduate of a local University and a lifetime Angelino, I have been witness to the transformation of our civic center from the beginning.  And while billions of dollars have been pumped into the area, and much change has been made in downtown, and specifically South Park, it seems as if our locale is suffering.  One of the first and biggest additions to the “neighborhood” was Ralphs. This supermarket absolutely helped draw people and families to the area. This showed a level of commitment to our local infrastructure in making downtown livable, but it seems as if the road ended there. Sixty-two point eight percent of households in the area have more than one person.  To me, this means that developers as well as business owners need to think along these lines meaning that within this micro-metropolis a neighborhood needs to be created. Outside of the people, a neighborhood is created by family stores, parks and schools.

Currently in our “neighborhood”, there is a vacancy rate in retail space well above sixty-five percent. Current and recent tenants include Starbucks, Premier Real Estate, State Farm Insurance, Castlewood Real Estate, Eleven Salon, PYO Gallery, and the company which I partially own and manage, The South Park Development Group. With limited retail space in general in the area, the types of stores which are being placed into available spaces, should really be well thought out, in terms of creating a community. Starbucks and Salon Eleven are real neighborhood stores, and help build that sense of community. Outside of ourselves, who are actually striving to create this local neighborhood, a lot of the current tenants do not give South Park the feel of a neighborhood; rather they give the feel of a central business district, which is not what I am looking for in my home neighborhood, as I can only speak for myself. Here at The South Park Development Group, we currently have clients under contract as well as our own plans that do indeed bring that sense of neighborhood to the area. So as residents of South Park, I am calling on you folks to fill my inbox and post on this blog, ideas of what you would like to see in the spaces below your homes.  It is your home, your neighborhood. What do you believe the area needs to turn this “neighborhood” into a neighborhood?

full disclosure from the mind, heart and soul: please email me your thoughts and/or opinions at  btomich@flvllc.com

out of the car, onto the bikes: the sustainable wave

the next wave-sustainablity

there are more and more cars in the u.s. than ever. a lot of people are driving their cars to do something as simple as going to the grocery store or returning a dvd. but how awesome would it be to be able to bike to those places or use your zero emissions electric bike to go to work? not only would you be doing the environment a great big favor, but you also would be saving yourself a lot of money and getting the exercise that everyone needs.

here in downtown l.a., it’s pretty easy to find parking, but majority of the time you have to pay. but if you started biking, you wouldn’t have to worry about all that. as more people start to take up biking, i can visualize bike racks on every street and bike shops opening up all around the southpark neighborhood just because of this up and coming trend.

how could we encourage more people to take up biking (besides the environmental and money factor)? i think customizable bikes will grab peoples attention. just think about walking into a bike shop, telling them exactly what you want, and then having them design it for you. everyone likes it when you can customize your own personal items… because it’s unique.

so peddle to the max.

we’ve test driven the e-road here are the results: downtown los angeles’ transport solution-zero emission, sustainable transport: driving the future now

it's about time

Down Town Los Angeles Business Blog has test driven the  e-road and here’s the bottom-line: fast, fun, and effective.

A phenomenal solution to downtown los angeles commuter congestion and best of all, eco-freindly-zero carbon emissions.

We applaud Logan Guzman, and the distributors of this new, vital, integral mode of transport: the e-road, a major step in the right direction.

full disclosure: members of the Downtown Los Angeles Business Blog are partners in the South Park Development Group and Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC, and are in the process of developing a business relationship with E-Road, for which we are thrilled.

more than just design.

i recently joined Forbes Legacy Ventures as a graphic designer. and every day i come to work, i realize how much there is to learn. it’s more than just design. it’s also business. and i now know how much business and design go hand in hand. good graphics can make good business and vice versa.

i was given this amazing opportunity to work on a variety of projects, but not only that, i also have the opportunity to work directly with the c.e.o. and because of this, i am able to learn so much more than just sitting behind a cubicle and being stuck in the farthest corner of the room. at least, that is the stereotype.

currently, i am working on Forbes Legacy Venture’s website. trying to keep it simple. clean. and to the point. letting people know what we do as a business and what we are capable of doing with graphics. because again, it’s more than just design.

weakness-view from a position of leadership- Dowtown L.A’s Business Blog

don’t dwell on team member’s or your employees weaknesses: we all have plenty of them-the author of this post is a tower groaning with personal and professional weaknesses.

if we focus on each others weaknesses we only reinforce them which leads to a degradation of their self-worth and their worth to the company.

one of my jobs as a leader of an organization-small as it is, is to help my team-mates, employees, and partners deeply enjoy their lives and fulfill their potential by developing and deriving pleasure from each of their unique talents. – within my own team, this is an important lesson my c.f.o is teaching me.

it would cost me talent and time, energy and innovation to focus on the one ‘f” on a report card of a’s.

traditional management systems, by being so global in outlook create an avalanche of mediocraty by demanding that employees ‘meet or exceed expectations’ in every area.

let’s look at this:

team member a is phenomenal with people, atrocious with spreadsheets-yet, many organizations, drill down to the issue of spreadsheets. talk about focusing the topic and the team member toward failure.

leaders have to see what is to be seen: strengths must be reinforced, applauded, and weaknesses transferred to other members of the organization for whom those weaknesses are strengths. or, let team member a get a ‘c’ in spreadsheets and move on….to his strengths.

identifying problems-a three day solution-winning ugly-in ugly times-with good values- downtownlabiz.com

winning ugly

1. take one day to identify the problem-focus, drill down: what, really is the problem of the day-of the moment.
2. create a bandage solution-as innovatively and quickly as possible and shoot it upstairs for approval (if there is an upstairs).
3. put the simple, workable plan into action-revise, revise, revise.

sounds simple: times are tough, lead times have shrunk, so have solution times.

what you see above is what this author and his team are implementing every morning at forbes legacy ventures llc/the south park development group: we’re drilling down- cause (situation), effect (problem), ideas (solution), ok (call to action with simple, bulletin point plan), and finally, direct report back. three days.

winning ugly-with good values.

business building-5 steps -downtownlabiz.com

1. define success: it could just be, at this point, survival, or more-each business is unique. success could be getting out, clearing the decks and coaching soccer. it could be going back to school. it probably is growth, a focus on cash flow, and revenues.  also…many independent business owners define success as not working for anyone else.

2. set strategy:   strategy=focus, its about differentiating your business on multiple levels-this recession will clear the decks of mid-level players unwilling to engage in high-level branding and marketing, combined with excellent product or service. things will get uglier and winning will mean, conversely, being values driven. how are you different? think: your company, the target market, and the focus that narrows both.

use swot: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats-as  bulletin points-keep it simple, be honest, be straightforward. clarity in each segment will lead to focus, which will be your strategy.

3. Be concrete, be measurable: who does what? what is the budget? what is the burn rate? how much does it cost? test everything and everyone. deadline everything. focus on prime-mover actions. re-focus (getting a little too focused?-no such thing).  look at leads, look at who in your organization is focused on sales-on cash-flow-whatever their title, whatever their department. revise the business plan-all the time. use the business plan. plan and then be flexible enough to scrap all your precepts-but be in planning mode. planning=strategy=focus=success.

4. make sales-i know-sounds utterly, inane, insipid-but, make some bloody sales. use all the tools available: email mkt, the phone, walk your neighborhood, walk period. survive=talk, talk to people, hand out your business card-over and over and over again. smile. even when it’s tough. build your online identity: today, right now, give up on your mistrust of viral marketing: it works, use it. grow.get over it.

 connect with those groups and people you would not, in any other time, normally hang with: drop judgementalism as much as you can. you need help, you need to make connections. you need to make connections now. keep them. how? by giving them at least as much as what you need from them-your time, ideas. give lots of good ideas. use your ideas as currency. ideas=$. so value your ideas, believe in them and ‘gift’ them to your ever growing list of connections.

5. be planning and revising all the time. make lists, keep notes-and, well focus.

sustainablity- downtownlabiz.com

first posted in www.flvllc.com, reposted in www.southparkla.com

Sustainability is the biggest opportunity of the next 50 years. And the next major differentiator as brands face commodification.

In Winning Ugly terms, it’s not a nice-to-have but a have-to-have, it’s surviving and winning. Smart leaders are all over this, no mistake. SouthParkLA  believes in:

1. Heading from limits to possibilities.

2. The power of consumers to change the world.

3. Sustainability as a catalyst for business growth.

4. No sustainability, no game. Sustainability is a transformational idea, mixing ecology, economy, society and culture, and stirring action with Personal Sustainability Plans.

We should be making doing the right thing fun, irresistible and viral, and revolution is coming… The Role of Business is to make the world a better place for everyone. This is where true value lies as markets rise again.

project management two examples-the difference between success and failure -downtownlabiz.com

one mba grad at a company is given an assignment by his superior. he chooses to ‘hunker’ down and closes his office door to focus, concentrate, and ‘figure it out.’ he works long hours, through the weekend, and looses sleep, his stress level-rises, he becomes dysfunctional, and finally, is viewed as a net-zero by his organization. His career is on the line.

the other, same archetype, so to speak: has an mba, similar school-same credentials, and is given a similar assignment. he reaches out, not just within his company but his friends, and ‘alternative’ thinkers-designers, artists, graphic designers, priests, community organizers, all sorts, far outside of his ‘club.’  his network is diverse- and so,  the solutions he provides related to his  assignment are alternative:  big, worthwhile, and win him accolades. He completes his assignment on time: in fact quickly- his friends help, he draws them in-he builds teams excited to help him. He sleeps well. His stress level is minimized, and his organization feels he is a key, up-and-coming player-a vital employee. His future is secured.

success: a glowing, bright light, liked, loved, a connector, non-judgemental of other points-of-view (at least professionally), and open to all sorts. does great work, through others by exciting them, by bringing energy and  dynamism to the table.

failure: close the door, round-the-clock, go it alone ‘busy-bee’, reactive, and afraid.