• One man's junk is another man's treasure.
• Think carefully about the name of your company.
• Keep your overhead under control.
• To become an employer, understand your own frustrations as an employee.
• You may not be able to hire the best talent.

Topic for discussion: Can you think of other entrepreneurs whose ideas were rejected by their employers? 

Possible answers: One of the most famous is Ross Perot. When he worked for IBM he suggested that IBM get involved in the data management business. At that point in time, IBM was not interested. Ross Perot quit and used a small loan from his wife to start EDS. 

Company leadership is often very focused on the task at hand. Everyday, when employees come up with ideas , the corporate executives get in the habit of saying "No" to new ideas. Also, many CEOs believe there is power in staying focused; and they are right. Company's thrive when they do what they do best and stick to it. There's an old saying -- which is a management guideline for many -- "Stick to your knitting." 

People like Greg are often glad that their former employer said, "No." It provides the incentive to take action; he did and now he runs his own profitable business.

Key Idea #2 

Think carefully about the name of your company. 

Topic for discussion: Why did Greg choose the name, Hartford Communications? 

Possible answers: When he started the company, there were hundreds of new businesses hanging out their shingles in the telecommunications industry. Greg noticed that many were using acronyms and as he put it, "...cutesy combinations of the word, telecommunications, with high tech sounding fabricated words." Greg was a one man company operating out of his garage and he wanted a name that sounded stable, reliable, and established. 

Topic for discussion: Where did the idea come from? 

Possible answers: While watching a sports event on television, he saw a commercial for Hartford Insurance. He liked the old New England insurance company name and philososphy. He called their legal department and got good advice on how to use part of the name without infringing on their trademark rights. 

So, picture this: Greg is one guy working in his garage and his company is called, Hartford Communications. He wanted to sound big from the beginning. 

Key Idea #3  Keep your overhead under control

Topic for discussion: List the actions Greg took which helped him keep his overhead in line. 

Possible answers: First, he borrowed his startup capital from his mom. This meant he probably had no interest to pay. Next, he started at home and worked from his gargage for one year. When the company was established, he took the call from Bob Potter of Jobs Plus in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. Greg was willing not only to listen to Bob Potter explain how Greg could save money, he actually moved his company from Southern California to Idaho. 

Bob Potter says that a company which is not location dependent can save as much as 20% in overhead if it is willing to leave a high cost area and move to Idaho. 

Topic for discussion: What costs can be reduced by carefully selecting your location? 

Possible answers: Nearly every item which consitutes overhead can cost less in rural areas or in the suburbs in contrast to cities. This includes: leasing space, utilities, insurance, labor, and taxes. In the past ten years, New York City has lost many big corporate headquarters because the cost of doing business in New York City is so high. J.C. Penny left New York and moved to Dallas, for example. Today, South Dakota-based Gateway Computers is growing very fast. It has low prices and high quality partially because of its location. It competes with Dell, Compaq, Apple and IBM which all have higher overhead. 

If you want to manufacture a product today, you can locate anywhere because the Internet, telephone, fax, and overnight delivery service can keep you in touch with customers. In some cases there is a reason to be in a certain place, depending upon your industry. If you make costume jewelry, you'll find the support services you need in Rhode Island. If you're in the film business, you might do best in Los Angeles, and if you're in advertising/marketing, you might want an office in New York City. These locations have more to do with the people you can meet and hang around with than it does with your basic ability to succeed. You can make a movie in Tampa, Florida, but you might need to rub shoulders with the film makers in Hollywood to truly realize your potential. 

Because Greg chose to locate in the fantastically beautiful great Northwest, attracting talent is no problem. Many smart, highly educated folks move to the beauty then work for lower wages because they are where they want to be.

Key Idea#4    To become an employer, understand your own frustrations as an employee

After over 20 years of working, Greg never had an employer who truly provided an environment where Greg could thrive. 

Topic for discussion: What does it take to please smart, talented employees? 

Possible answers: A place where people feel valued. This place is created by an employer who:

1. has respect for every individual,
2. is willing to ask questions rather than give orders,
3. rewards people for creativity and ingenuity,
4. provides fair wages and competitive benefits, and
5. finds ways for employees to expand in their job.

Greg gave the example of the shipping clerk who was asked to solve the shelf shortage problem. This shows that the shipping clerk is not just doing what he is told to do, but, he is thinking and coming up with his own smart solutions. Greg must be doing something right.

Key Idea#5:  You may not be able to hire the best talent easily.

Topic for discussion: How did Greg bring top-level executive talent into his company? 

Possible answers: He gave away part of his ownership. If you can't afford to pay the salary of a person you really need and want to join the company, you can probably win them over by giving them ownership. This is scarry and difficult, but, if you can see the long term benefit of having this type of person, you can win in the end. 

Bill Hagstrom brought experienced talent into UroCor by giving stock to certain individuals.

In other segments: 

John Wargo talks about the power of a video brochure to explain to your products and services to potential customers and Bruce Camber takes us into cyberspace to look at how we can work to save the environment. 

Greg says, "The worst decision is the decision you don't make. Even when you make a decision that causes a problem, you can solve the problem. If you make no decision, nothing happens."