Entrepreneurs watching the drama of the U.S. presidential race can learn from how each losing candidate eventually had to face the question of folding his tent. The focus now is on Hilary Clinton, but Jim Verdonik, a securities lawyer in North Carolina, was taken by how Mitt Romney, after spending $35 million of his own money, had to withdraw. In the Portland Business Journal, he draws these lessons:

• Starting a business is difficult, but closing a company is harder. The decision affects many people, so it's natural to postpone it -- but that usually causes greater harm. "If it's inevitable, dealing with it now is always the best choice," he says.



• Campaigns and businesses can become bottomless pits. There's no sense throwing good money after bad, even if you are a multimillionaire like Romney. Every company needs a business justification for additional investments of money, time and effort.



• Even if a business has a reason to exist, there's no reason why you have to continue bearing the burden. Get a partner or hire a CEO if you want to move on to other opportunities.



• Serial entrepreneurs are happy and productive people. They recognize that they enjoy launching new ideas and products rather than fighting to increase market share half a per cent.



• Positioning a company to sell at a premium price can take several years, so don't wait like politicians until the last moment to prepare for an exit.

To avoid wasting so much time in meetings, consultant Dan Markovitz on his Timeback blog recommends:

• If at all possible, don't go to the same meeting as your direct report.



• Start and end all meetings on time. Holding to that rule will help to focus meetings. You may even want to consider what one of his managers once did: Locking the conference room door at the designated time. People weren't late again.



• Fill your schedule with your own priorities, blocking out time so there is less available for meetings. Nature abhors a vacuum, so fill it with something other than meetings before those meetings gobble up all your time.

Many small businesses still resist creating a web site or fully embracing the Internet. Online expert Justin Kitch tells Entrepreneur.com you need to avoid these Internet myths:

• I don't need a web site: With no site, you are missing an opportunity to be open 24/7, essentially for free.



• I need to hire professionals to run the site: Kitch builds web sites for companies, but says you don't require him or a super-polished site. You need to be dynamic, fresh, and authentic. And it helps to be able to have control of your site and change it yourself.



• The Yellow Pages are all I need: At least half your new customers are probably going online to try to find you. And repeat customers would love a web site to browse.



• My business is local: There is no such thing as a local business anymore. Even dry cleaners and realtors are on the Web.



• A web site is only for customers: In fact, it's also for employees, suppliers and partners. The ability to interact with them over the Web or from home gives you a huge amount of flexibility.



• A web site is all I need for my Internet strategy: Your web site is only the tip of the iceberg. Consider e-mail newsletters, blogs, and other online approaches to build your business.

Sometimes closing a sale seems very close, but the client delays, since there is no sense of urgency. To prevent that, Mike Schultz, publisher of RainToday.com, and contributing editor John Doerr suggest a technique for use near the end of the sales process.

Ask yourself what the implications will be for the prospect if they don't purchase your product or services. You should have a fairly good idea of their situation by now, so building that case is feasible.

Then ask the prospect, "To help me understand your situation so I can craft the best solution for you, can you give me a sense of what would happen if you choose not to move forward in this process and engage in our services?" Like a good trial lawyer, you have anticipated the answers so you can lead them with further questions if they don't enumerate all the difficulties. Quantify those results, and then demonstrate how you help to avoid those problems.

• At the end of the day, everyone is a volunteer, notes Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. If you don't appreciate them, somebody else will. (Source: From Where I Sit blog)



• Write it once, use it thrice. Given the time pressures these days, consultant Jay Lipe says when you have crafted a piece of marketing content, look to use it three times. The words for a brochure can be used on your web site and in another handout or presentation.
  (Source: Smart Marketing blog)



• Research shows people perceive e-mails as being more negative than they are intended to be. So check your own reaction when you are reacting negatively to an e-mail, and opt for a face-to-face conversation when you are contemplating sending one on a contentious issue.
  (Source: Fast Company)



• Avoid making concessions early in the sales process, advises negotiating expert Michael Sloopka. Carefully consider the wants and needs of the customer to identify what concessions you might make, determining what the costs will be to you. Don't assume that your customer will value a concession just because there is a cost to you.
  (Source: NegotiatingCoach.com)



• Encourage team members to find out about each other's roles. The more they know about other perspectives, the more they will be likely to empathize with them when the going gets tough, observes consultant Stephen James Joyce.
  (Source: HR Professional)

This term often refers to applying corporate branding techniques to enhance the profile and drive home the meaning of a charity. A charity brand refers to more than a logo or name of, say, the Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army or your local hospital foundation. Charity branding embraces not only what the charity does, its cause, but also its personality and values. It builds trust, and guides a more focused, more consistent communication of what the organisation stands for.

But the most amazing and complex aspect of a charity brand is that strictly speaking it has no function. With product brands like Coca Cola, Microsoft and IBM (the top three brands world-wide last year), you get something tangible when you buy them. But a charity brand has only emotional content. You don't "get" something when you support a charity -- other than emotional satisfaction.

As Wally Olins, chairman of Saffron Brand Consultants pointed out in an interview with Marco van Hout on www.design-emotion.com, a charity can do something for your self-image and you associate yourself with a charity because it makes you feel good about yourself. That is, Olins notes, "the ultimate brand -- just because the brand has got no functional content at all. It only exists emotionally."

Some research firms are now testing which words, phrases or statements the public associates with their "ideal" charity and assessing public attitudes and levels of trust toward top charities.

The British consultancy Intangible Business has devised a way to measure a charity's brand value by calculating its ability to generate future income and other factors. In 2006, for instance, they concluded the UK's most valuable charity brand was Cancer Research UK with a brand value estimated at more than $420 million CAD.

Academic researchers, such as Adrian Sargeant, John B. Ford, and Jane Hudson, have explored the relationship between giving behaviour and charity brand personality. Their study of nine national nonprofits published last December concluded that we do not in fact distinguish charities according to traits associated with benevolence (e.g. caring, compassionate, fair, honest, trustworthy), or progression (e.g. transforming, pioneering, engaging). Individual giving behaviour seems to be associated with traits such as emotional engagement, service, voice, and tradition.

For more on this, see:

www.bpa.odu.edu/bpa/news_events/deans_seminar/attachments/Spr07/Ford.ppt

Charities can borrow much from corporate branding, but it's clear that nuanced approaches are needed to succeed with emotion-driven charity brands.

Since our last Water Cooler three weeks ago, we have been involved in planning or facilitating 10 strategic planning sessions or retreats. These are highly engaged meetings to retool missions and visions, plot strategy for the future, make choices, set priorities and build consensus.

At the end of these sessions, the most common "takeaway" comment from participants is about the surprise of discovering how much their team is actually "on the same page".

The comment crops up so often we take it as a sign that, in most organizations, teams don't have much opportunity with time in the right space to just talk -- to think longer-term, explore perspectives, re-examine personal goals and motivations, and work out concerns (sometimes misunderstandings) to build a clear focus for moving forward. Our days, it seems, are jammed with getting daily tasks off our desks, and that's important too. But once in a while we need time, with our team, to sharpen the saw.

8020Info offers a variety of tools, facilitation services and counsel to help your group make the most of your planning retreat. We would be pleased to discuss your needs and welcome enquiries at (613) 542-8020, or by email at watercooler@8020info.com.