All Done

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." Lao Tzu

Five new posts in the past six months. Yep, I've lost interest. I don't know if there's anyone still out there. Actually, I don't know if there ever was.

I started this blog three years ago as a way to offload as this stuff that was cramming up my neural ports and as a send off I just read all of the posts starting with the preamble.

There's some pretty good posts out there. Ten Simple Rules, You Can't Fix Stupid, Greg Shrugged, The Pleaser's Dilemma among them.

Then I wrote the eight-part chronicles about starting the wine bar, starting with this one The LBV Chronicles.

And I got to use this space to miss Bonnie.

But now I'm done and it's beyond just needing a break or needing material. I run across things each week that make for good blog fodder but I have no interest in composing.

So, if you were ever out there. Thanks for indulging me. It was very good and important to me once upon a time.

Updating the Rules

“The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.” Warren Buffett

Back when I started blogging – you know, when I actually posted more than once every couple of months – I published “Ten Simple Rules”. It stands today as my personal favorite and still the one I’ve gotten the most comments about.

I’ve always been proud of the fact that it’s short and factual. There’s just not a whole lot to disagree with. But it’s time for an update.

There’s nothing in the fundamental set of 10 that I would alter, but I am going to add a thirteenth bonus rule.

13. Treat Social Media sites as the thin-ice, potentially toxic, personal and career altering quagmires that they are.

OK Strouse, you always have a story. What’s this one?

Glad you asked.

I was talking to a guy today who had just lost his job because of something he posted on Facebook about his job. It wasn’t overly derogatory, though to be fair neither was it flattering. But in it he posted a picture of a white board with some company info on it.

Bang!

Didn't even get that second cup of coffee in.

Although this doesn’t break Rule #2:

Never (ever, ever)….(ever, ever, ever) lie, cheat or steal. It will create a stigma that can never be overcome.

It dances up close enough.

South Park had a great episode on Facebook titled “You have zero friends”. You can see a clip here: Zero

Look, I like Facebook. I follow my kids and grandkids through it. I use it for my business, BUT, I rarely post anything and when I do it’s benign. And I’ll tell you something else, anytime I’m wanting to check out a potential new employee, client, whatever, I go look them up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al. And if they’re posting what I consider to be goofy stuff I pay attention. FWIW.

Anyway, as with the other rules, do what you want but just know…they’re out there and they’re watching and they’re paying attention.

Birthday Wishes

“When you lose someone you love, you die too, and you wait around for your body to catch up.” John Scalzi

Today is Bonnie’s birthday – she would have turned 58. Now approaching two years since her death it still seems inconceivable that she’s gone. So much for it getting easier. I think watching the grandkids grow makes it hard. They’re so damned cute and will forever miss out on the massive amounts of love and spoiling that would have been theirs. I know it’s tough on the kids too. Thankfully they’re all grown, responsible, and stable and have great sets of in-laws around them. But it’s still hard.

Her birthday can’t roll around without thinking of her 55th, just a little over a year before she died. She always wanted a Sheik of Arabic theme so the kids organized and built one. It was a blast and something she enjoyed immensely.

I’m hosting a fundraiser on August 1st with the proceeds going to the International Myeloma Foundation. The IMF provided incredible knowledge and support to Bonnie and me throughout the 4 years she suffered with it. I have attached a link to the International Myeloma Foundation here – IMF - who has included a flyer for the event on their website. I hope those of you that are local can attend. I know many of you are remote and will be unable to come; I would really appreciate any donation that you may be able to give so that we can help find a cure for this horrible disease. Please help me in this journey as I continue to help get the word out about Multiple Myeloma and to help raise funds for a cure.

Lisa Roberts, a friend who used to live here in Michigan and now resides in Florida, blogged about Bonnie the other day. Very sweet – you can read it here – Bonnie.

If you have a moment today or whenever you read this give Bonnie a “Happy Birthday”, she’ll enjoy it.

Finding Mark Knopfler

"You win some, you might get lucky now and then". Mark Knopfler

My buddy Brian took me to see Mark Knopfler in Ann Arbor at the Michigan Theater. It’s a great venue just off campus, nice and small with only 1,700 seats.

I have never really followed Knopfler. I knew him from Dire Straits but only their radio and MTV stuff – never owned an album.

So I go see him and POW, I realize I’ve been missing out on music of the type and style that I love. He’s a bluesy, folksy, kind of a C&W for the Celtic set with great lyrics, big voice and of course world-class guitarist.

So instead of being happy to make this discovery I’m pissed! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out for all these years. He has 8 solo albums plus all the ones with Dire Straits. Throw on to that the litany of composing for movies and it turns into a lot of catching up to do.

So now along with downloading his music to my iPod I have a Mark Knopfler station on Pandora.
It’s kind of crazy when you discover something that’s been all around you and then become a little obsessed with it.

So naturally I applied this little eye-popper to the business world. How many Knopfler moments have or do exist? Are there clients/solutions/people all around that you just haven’t discovered? This came about the other day when my Seattle-based company was looking for a particular, kind of hard to find, talent for a project and discovered one right here in the town where I live in Michigan.

It’s somewhat human nature to think all the good stuff must be somewhere else. We do it all the time whether it’s driving to other towns to eat as people in those towns drive to yours. In business we relocate newly hired people because they must be more qualified than anyone close (or god forbid inside the company). Or let’s spend zillions of dollars opening a new international market rather than increase our existing market share with people in places we already know.

Really, we all need to get better at paying attention to what's around.

We might get lucky.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just got a note from Pandora that they’ve added a bunch of new stuff to my Knopfler station.

Fessin' Up To Messin' Up

“Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes” Confusius

Like a lot a sports fans I’ve been watching the trauma and drama unfold over the blown call by umpire Jim Joyce that spoiled the perfect game thrown by Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga.

It was a very unfortunate incident. Perfect games – where 27 batters come to the plate and 27 outs are recorded with no hits, walks or errors – are very rare. There have only been 20 in all of recorded major league baseball history. The fact that Galarraga wasn’t the 21st came due to the last batter being called safe at first when all the replays showed that he was clearly out.

But this little piece of trivia is not what has me intrigued enough to blog about it. What has transpired between the cast of characters since the game ended is what’s worth noting.

First was Galarraga immediately upon the runner being called safe. Since he was covering the bag on the grounder hit down the first base line he was within a couple of feet of the umpire Joyce. Rather than putting on some spectacular display of theatrics we’ve all become accustomed to with today’s athletes he smiled (in disbelief to be sure) and walked back to the mound to pitch to the next batter.

Next was the umpire Jim Joyce. Since there is no replay for situations like this in baseball he had no choice than to go with “what he saw”. But afterwards he watched the replays and knew he’d blown the call. So, he went to the Tigers locker, asked permission to come in and face-to-face apologized to Galarraga, manager Jim Leyland and the rest of the team. Then he went out and faced the media and said, “I blew the call and cost that young man a perfect game”.

Then manager Jim Leyland afterwards said, “We’re all human and make mistakes, he’s a good man and a good umpire and should be left alone”.

The next day the same umpiring crew was present with Jim Joyce being scheduled to be behind home plate. He was given the out to not umpire that day but refused saying “that’s my job”.

What then happened is Leyland had Galarraga take the line-up card out during the pre-game ceremony, the two pitcher and umpire shook hands then the rest of the Tigers came up and gave Joyce a slap on the back.

So, a potentially difficult player/umpire/fan situation was totally defused by simple acts of sanity. And it all started with the two people most affected – the pitcher and the umpire – doing the right thing. Galarraga acted like a pro and Joyce acted like the good man everyone says he is. No whining, no theatrics, no sniveling, no acting persecuted, no blame shifting, no hiding just a mistake made, regretted and apologized for.

How many business (and personal) situations should be handled this way. How much easier would life be if more difficult situations were handled like this one?

It all started with the person who was the most affected handling himself professionally. But from what I’ve read about Jim Joyce – who’s considered one of the best umpires working – he probably would have done the same thing regardless.

How about you?

Pondering the Future

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

For Mother’s Day as well as flowers for my mother I also sent flowers for her to take out for Bonnie’s gravesite. I asked my parents if they would take a picture for me and the kids.

This seemingly innocent request started an odyssey beyond any expectations.

Me: “Mom, would you take a picture of the flowers?”

Mom: “Well, I guess, I don’t know.”

Me: “Is that a problem?”

Mom: “I’m not sure we have a camera.”

Me: “Really? I’ll get you one”

Mom: “No, don’t do that, we’ll never use it”

Me: “OK, what about your cell phone?”

Mom: “What about it?

Me: “I’m sure it has a camera in it, you can use it.”

Mom: “Oh, I wouldn’t know how do that.”

Me: “OK, no problem”

*sigh*

I didn’t think that much about it until I got this email from Mom:

We took pictures of the flowers. Hope they turn out O.K. It was funny (in a way) when your Dad took them to be printed all the places said "we don't do that kind of film anymore” but they do send it away will take about a week. They only do digital. Anyway we should have pictures in about a week. Shows you are up (s---) creek without a paddle if you are not up to date in this fast world today.

Now, my parents are neither dumb nor illiterate, they’re just 85. When you think about how much things have changed in their lives it’s pretty overwhelming. Hell, when you think how much things have changed since they were MY AGE it’s pretty overwhelming.

This in turn got me thinking about what I will be like if I’m lucky/unlucky enough to someday be 85. If I think about change in the past 27 years (the delta between me and my parents) and project that forward it’s pretty impossible to predict.

I consider myself pretty progressive – for an old geezer head – and like to think that I’ll be able to keep up. But then again I’m not so sure. Will I be able to keep up? If my kids request me to do something seemingly simple will the then current technology be like voodoo? I can see it now, "Dad, all I'm asking you to do teleport the casserole dish I left at your place, use your global teleport app that came with your iPlant implanted telecomm device. Just hold the dish in your left hand, hold your nose with your right, say my name and fart".

Actually maybe the better question isn't will I be able to keep up, but will I even want to?

Jumping 2009

“The best way to compile inaccurate information that no one wants is to make it up.” Scott Adams

I met a guy the other day who was telling me about his business – tool and die for what it’s worth – and during the “how’s it going” phase he said, “pretty well actually. In fact the year is starting off really strong.” He went on to explain that his company is doing all their trend analysis based off of 2008 instead of 2009. Essentially they’re skipping ‘09.

My initial thought was “that’s goofy; you can’t just skip over an entire year”. But the more I thought about it the more it started to make sense. So I started asking almost everyone I talked to about it and found a lot of people doing pretty much the same thing by doing comparisons of important trend numbers using ’06, ’07, ’08 and ’10.

The thinking is 2009 was so bad in so many ways that if you can’t do better this year then you’re probably wasting your time. Thus, trying to put significance on comparisons is fruitless.

I can see the company party now, ‘raise your glasses everyone, lets celebrate growing Q1 by 10% over Q1 last year when we absolutely sucked”. Or better a recent Dilbert episode had the pointy-haired boss giving this update:

“The Company is happy to announce that compared to previous years, we improved our rate of revenue decline. We’ve been doing great since we redefined success as a slowing of failure”.

That sounds worthy of a celebration. After all, there’s some merit to celebrating victories as I wrote in a past blog. Celebrate.

So in a lot of places 2009 is being considered such an anomaly that a lot of people are just eliminating it from their data and memory banks.

Now, if we could only erase it from our money banks.

Real. Customer. Service.

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." Sam Walton

Since I feel I spend most of my posts ranting against things I thought I’d give you (and me) a breather.

I recently got an iPhone. Yeah, I know, I’ve gone to the dark side but the truth is I’ve intended to get one for a while but I’m not an early adopter, as those who know me know. Probably because I’ve subjected so many during my career to early version crap. But my old Blackberry croaked and I thought that maybe it was now time.

The fact is after a couple of weeks I like it. I actually like it a lot.

Except for one thing, it won’t synch with my Outlook calendar and contacts and when you use your phone mainly for business that’s kind of a big deal.

So, not being a novice to technical issues I fired up Google and found all the sites and went through normal fix things. Turn this off, turn this on, spin around three times while chanting “Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs”. Nada.

So I went to what’s usually the last place to fix a problem…yep…the vendor site. I went to Apple support on the Apple site and tried all the recommended fixes, and of course none of them worked.

But while on the site I see a section that allows you to contact customer support. OK, they’re already ahead of Sirius Radio. Ever try to find a “Contact Us” button on Sirius? Go ahead, try. I dare you. Sirius is way into the Hotel California mentality of keeping customers.

This Apple section has two buttons. One that says “Call me now” and one that says “Schedule a call”. I had some serious office time in front of me so I hit “Call me now”, plugged in my landline number anticipating they’ll need my iPhone to be free….and the phone rings. I’m not talking 15 seconds, I’m saying I hit “Call me now” and the phone rang. After the obligatory “Naw, coincidence” I pick the phone up and get an automated attendant. OK, that’s impressive but I figure I’m still in for a 20 minute exercise of auto attendant hell until I get to speak slowly so the representative from IndiIriPakiUkraniStan can try to help me.. Nope, 20 seconds later a polite young man named Jason from Portland comes on the line and we proceed to troubleshoot the problem.

Wow, real customer service. It had been so long that it took me a while to process that this is the way it used to be (well, not the instant callback). You used to talk to people who would help you without going through agony and angst.

So, yes, I have become an Apple and iPhone convert. To all of you over the past couple of years, here you go. You were right, I was wrong. There. Happy?

Oh, by the way, he couldn’t fix the problem..

Let me play this one back

“Any fool can criticize - and most fools do.” Dale Carnegie

I had one of those interesting conversations with a patron of LBV the other night. It was his first time in and he brought his wife and another couple. As he was leaving he asked if we were going to be making any changes to the menu. I told him that we’re looking at making some modifications for the summer season.

He said that was good because he didn’t like anything on the menu.

Really? Nothing?

Not really he said, but his wife and friends liked everything they had.

But not you?

This is where he explained that he’s extremely picky and by his own admission doesn’t like much of anything.

And I’m supposed to change my menu around someone who doesn’t like anything?

Understand that although we don’t have a large kitchen our tapas-style plates, cheese flights and desserts are getting rave reviews. Kim did a masterful job of putting together great plates that are classy, tasty yet quick to prepare.

This is the classic Product Manager dilemma. How much time and attention do you give that person (company) who is never going to be satisfied? You don’t want to totally ignore them because sometimes great ideas come from those who are never happy. And, if you can satisfy the extremely picky then there’s a good chance that people with a broader palate (actual and metaphorical) will like it as well. However, the time spent trying to please the unappeasable takes you away from other probably more productive things.

Of course, with me the real urge is the stop the person mid-sentence, get everyone else’s attention and say, “OK, please loudly repeat what you just said word for word” and then ask everyone else. “OK, now tell me, what would you do with a suggestion like this”?

I suppose not.

Nod and smile, fellas, nod and smile.

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 8: Lemonade

“Eat Right, Stay Fit, Die Anyway”. Motto of the Round Lake Running Club

You learn a lot about living when the most important person in the world to you dies.

You also learn a lot about happiness from sadness, a lot about being full from being empty, a lot about success from failure.

The old folksy adage is “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

I prefer the motto me and my buddies created for our makeshift running club. It really puts things in better perspective. Make everything count along the way ‘cause guess what, none of us are getting out alive. I don’t know what happens on the other side but I do know this, whatever it is or isn’t, whatever you were doing here is done.

I’ve used “get busy living, or get busy dying”, the Andy Dufresne line from Stephen King’s “The Shawshank Redemption”, many times in the past because it’s so appropriate and I as wrote in Goodbye Neil Young and in One Year Later deciding to get busy living was brutally hard and completely necessary, and something that anyone who knew Bonnie knows was her absolute expectation because she really did embrace that life is not a spectator sport.

So deciding to actually pull the trigger on doing LBV was making a pretty big vat of lemonade, because I was dealing with some big-ass lemons.

I have tried to do a few things in these chronicles. One, be truthful about the fact that I began this pretty much as an accidental tourist. Two, that once the Go decision was made I never again waivered about going forward. Three, I’m very happy I did it. It’s been an adventure that I’m just fully realizing a lot of people never get to experience. A lot of people think and talk and dream about starting a business but another old favorite quote of mine usually comes into play, “when everything is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done”.

There’s another element in play that may give us a chance to make some lemonade. LBV is a wine and cigar bar. At the end of 2009 the Michigan Senate and House passed a no-smoking bill that goes into effect May 1st. Interestingly there’s a carve out for “cigar bars” and the way the law reads we may be exempt from the ban by virtue of the fact that the way our smoking lounge was built appears to comply with the definition. Unfortunately as of this writing I do not have a final ruling, so we’ll see. As I wrote in Episode 4, sometimes you get lucky.

Well, that’s about it. I think I’ve said about everything I set out to get off my chest when I started the chronicles I don’t know where this little science experiment of mine is going to end up but I know that its creation has gone a long ways toward getting me living again.

Thanks for your indulgence. I’m quite positive that the adventures of LBV will play prominently in future blog posts.

I’ll leave you with a quote – actually lyrics – from a John Mellencamp song “The Real Life”. John and I grew up at the same time in towns that were 20 miles apart. I remember seeing his early bands play in the local venues, and no, I don’t know him and I had no idea he’d hit it big but really glad he did.

I want to live the real life
I want to live my life close to the bone
Just because I'm middle-aged that don't mean
I want to sit around this house and watch T.V.
I want the real life
I want to live the real life

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 7: How much is too much?

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done” Bruce Lee

It seems like the theme of “too much” played into a lot of things during the formation, creation and realization of LBV.

How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? As I’ve mentioned before my first option after Bonnie died was to sell the building followed by the second option of leasing it to other tenants. Starting a business was the third option. I maintained a running debate/dialog with myself on how much time to allow the hunt for someone else to continue.

How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? Starting a new business is risky in the best of times and in the best of places. Michigan has been neither and may not be for a while yet. Back in October 2008 I posted this blog – Dark Days - that gives an early preview of things to come.

How much is too much to invest? Once I decided to go forward came the stark reality that this thing was going to cost some dough. How much would it cost and where would the capital come from? Trying to go through the traditional routes of obtaining capital would prove to be frustrating. I wrote about it here – Getting it

How much is too much involvement from others? Going solo versus taking on partners was another major decision. Spreading the financial risk was appealing, but so was the thought of not having to consult others along the way unless I chose to.

How much is too much daily involvement? I did not start LBV as a career change but as an investment. But, I am the majority owner, it’s housed in my building and I live above it so naturally I’m going to be around. But how much time is the right amount to spend down there? I don’t want to annoy people but I don’t want to seem uninterested. Where’s the balance?

So let’s take a look at how each of these played out:

How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? There was never a totally right or wrong answer but it was a constant companion until I reached a point of no return with LBV. What was the point of no return? I’m not sure there ever was an absolute crystal clear line of demarcation on this. More, as time passed and elements of the building and business fell into place the price point of selling or leasing steadily increased. Whereas in the early stages I would have made someone the deal of the decade the price point kept moving to where the amount to get my interest got big and one to make me actually go down that path would be dizzying.

How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? I’ve written about the state of the Michigan economy many times, probably too many, but here’s another one – Smoochy. The bad economy has been a double-edged sword. People simply don’t have as much money and that’s combined with people leaving the state for better employment opportunities. So there are less people spending less money. Not the optimal climate for a new business that’s predicated on disposable income. On the other hand, the availability of skilled labor and the ability to get them at bargain rates has probably never been better. So, to quote Harry Callahan, do I feel lucky? Yeah, I guess I do. Time will tell.

How much is too much to invest? I have enough experience to know that no project in history ever gotten done on time or within budget. On the other hand if you don’t draw some lines in the sand you have no hope of even coming close to a time or budgetary deadline. I put a very aggressive budget in place but not an aggressive timeline. My rationale around that was the old “time – money – quality” theorem. Professionally I’ve always impressed upon people that I can give them any two of those three elements but not all three. That is, if you want something quick and with high quality it’ll cost you. If you want something with high quality and not a lot of money, it’ll take some time, and so on. Well, I certainly wanted quality and I needed to hold a hard budget, so the timeline got to be the wild card. Ultimately I overspent the original budget but hit spot-on my personal “this is what I really believe it will actually cost” number with the quality intact.

How much is too much involvement from others? Since I’ve told each of the partners this already I’ll confess it to you as well. Yeah, I wish I would have gone solo. Why would I say that when Brian is a great friend and has been a fantastic business partner and as I wrote in Episode 5, LBV would never have turned out like it did without Kim. Well, because the absolute risk is still on my shoulders. It’s mainly my capital, it’s my building and it’s my town and sometimes I’d rather not have to consult with others. Now that I have that little demon out in the open let me tell you this as well, Going solo would have been a terrible mistake. So there! I just have to follow my own advice from this post – Devil

How much is too much daily involvement? This has been the most interesting one. I obsessed about this before we opened quite a bit but everyone would say to me “you’ll figure it out”. And I have. Well, actually the customers figured it out for me in that I continue to get comments on a very consistent basis that they like me being around. Something about “the owner” paying attention hits a sweet nerve. So by virtue of the fact that I don’t have a traditional life these days in that I have the time and proximity to pop in I do. After all, it is a place I would hang out at even if it wasn’t mine. When I’m down there I try to follow the lead of arguably one of the most successful food/restaurant owners in the area Ari Weinzweig of Zingermann’s http://www.zingermansroadhouse.com/. What does Ari do when on the floor? He wears the same clothes as his statt, carries a pitcher and refills water glasses. What a great way to stay in touch with the customer experience. Many know who he is, many don’t. Very cool

Next: Episode 8: Lemonade

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 6: So many helping hands

“The nine scariest words to any American citizen are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’” Ronald Reagan

Like any major endeavor taking LBV from a lukewarm, hazy muse to opening the doors for business took a large cast and had lots of moving parts. And hands, lots of hands.

It’s almost overwhelming to reflect back on how many people got touched by this little science experiment. City and State administrators and inspectors, architects, designers, contractors of every type from concrete, landscapers, brick masons, electrical, heating and cooling, painters, framers, steel workers, and then buying the equipment and the inventory. Without exaggerating we had to have monetarily touched well over 50 companies and independents.

I will confess to you that I had moments of unfettered pride watching workers perform and knowing that I was creating paychecks for people. It’s the part of capitalism I like the most and frankly the part that so many “public servants” (oxymoron) seem unable to grasp. I posted on this – Shrugged.

Then there’s the staff. It was a great deal of fun interviewing and choosing the staff members. They’re a great group and each has a great sense for the customer. I think we’ve created a really great product here and with these guys have added the service element, thus giving us the optimal situation that I laid out in this post – Service vs. Product.

Then, of course, there are the other helping hands. The “I know you didn’t ask and I have no skin in the game but let me eat up an hour of your time quizzing you on the decisions you’ve already made plus dump a bunch of unsolicited ideas on you” ones. I had one individual who was so bad I posted about him – Drive By.

I know its human nature to be inquisitive as well as to want to help by offering up ideas and opinions. And to be fair some really good things came out of some of these outsiders, so you can’t just blow everyone off. But Jeez….it’s as if some people feel you gave no thought whatsoever to things. Anytime a conversation would start off with “did you think about….” my hackles would instantly go up and I would start my “smile, nod and acknowledge” routine.

I’ve found there’s a direct correlation between the layers removed from actual involvement and the strength of the opinion. I also came to realize that the less financial capital was involved the more the answer to any question equated to “just spend more money”.

Ah well. To be fair, the vast majority of helping hands were truly and sincerely trying to be helpful.

Now, where’s that suggestion box/shredder combo?

Next: Episode 7; How much is too much?

The LBV Chronicles

Kim and founding team memebers: Heidi, Shirley, Mark, Matt & Matt

Episode 5: If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me

“Phone line works both ways, big boy” David J. Kleehamer

Phones are amazing devices. From when I was a kid on the farm watching my grandmother listen in on conversations on the party line to today when people are so connected they can barely function. Part of my amazement is that the act of communicating is arguably worse now than before even though people seem to being talking all the time. One morning while waiting to cross the street during morning commute time I counted twelve cars. Nine of the drivers were on their cell phones. My thought was, “who can they possibly be talking to?” They just left the house; it’s too early to be one the phone with the office. Maybe they’re all talking to each other. Most probably they’re leaving messages that say “call me”, also known as giving someone the “telephone monkey”. See Operator.

One thing that suffered while starting LBV was keeping connected with people. I became one of the people I criticized in this post. – One More Time - in that I didn’t initiate contact and ignored or avoided incoming attempts because either I was in the middle of something or I was too worn out to want to engage in conversation. But really another big reason I avoided calls was I got really tired of talking about how the building/business was coming along. It’s flattering that everyone was interested but talking about it constantly drained my enthusiasm. I guess it’s how public figures must feel when they have to answer the same questions continuously. “So George, what’s your new movie about?” “Stephen, tell me about your new book.” “Mr. President, what does your teleprompter say about the new health care package?” (Sorry…)

Frankly there’s another element involved in being constantly quizzed that I’ll cover in Episode 6 but the fact is phones are amazing, totally necessary and a large pain in the ass.

Speaking of phones, I ended Episode 4 saying that one way I was lucky in putting LBV together was by returning a phone call. I was lucky in that it was early in the process before I tired of too much phone. But I did return this message to “call me” and is how I met the young lady who became the Managing Partner and such an instrumental part of LBV. She has not only brought amazing knowledge of wine and food as well as a great network of people in the business but she has also brought vision, spirit and passion. As indicated in Episode 2 I’ve been asked many times if having a wine bar was always a dream of mine. Where my honest answer is “no, not really” her honest answer is “yes, always!”

I’m a big believer in the power of passion. I once wrote “Education is nice. Experience is nice too. As for me I'll bet on the person with vision, passion and that magic touch every single time.” I also wrote in Episode 2 that it’s turned out way better than I expected. She’s a big reason for that and I’m glad I was lucky and returned that call.

So the lesson here is return phone calls, you never know.

Next: Episode 6: So many helping hands

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 4: It’s sometimes better to be lucky

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." Mark Twain

Last episode I wrote about how plans can and will change. I feel for the most part that I was lucky multiple times during the process of putting LBV together. One case in point was the “Ah…S***” moment while, interestingly enough, sitting on the patio one evening. While serenely having a nightcap and smoking a cigar it dawned on me that we (we being the architect, designer, builder and me) had totally forgotten to think about lighting for the entrance into the building. As it turned out one more day and the work on the patio would have been completed to the point that it would have cost serious money to fix properly. As it turned out the solution was quick and relatively painless.

Another one was while trying to tune in the new HVAC and exhaust system for the cigar room. As is typical of architects mine had, as a buddy describes it, used a shotgun on a hummingbird. Upon startup this thing would not only eliminate the smoke in the room but pull your eyebrows off in the process. The solution was to vent off a lot of the power before it got to the room. But where? Well, turns out the ductwork runs through the garage. I had always wanted a heated garage so bingo, two outlets later and the too much power problem and heated garage problem are solved in less than an hour.

There seemed to be several of those knick-of-time moments and I wondered often when my luck was going to not bail me out. But for the most part it held.

Whereas I feel I was lucky in some area others were just following my nose.

My architect was the same one I had used for each phase of the building. They’re great people who do great work and this was the third project with them, so that was an easy decision.

The designer had worked with Bonnie on the second phase of the building with great results, so they too were automatic.

Choosing a contractor wasn’t as automatic. Phase I had been done by one local commercial contractor and Phase II with another. Both did good work but I wasn’t keen on using a commercial group. This was much more of a remodel than a build. Commercial people, for the most part, lack an eye for design and detail. They like boxes.

I’ve spoken before about my Thursday night buddy sessions – The Capital of Talent. During one of these I was introduced to a local guy who makes his living remodeling basements on a high-end scale. After multiple conversations I decided to go with him over the commercial guys. What I gave up in experience dealing with commercial architects and city planning officials I more than got back in his eye for detail, commitment to the job and ultimately a friendship.

Another lucky moment came when I was brilliant enough to perform a little known and ancient practice. It’s so obscure and has been lost from civilization for so long that most people have never heard of it much less practiced it.

I returned a phone call.

Next: Episode 5: If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me

The LBV Chronicles

LBV building circa 1999

Episode 3: Decisions, decisions everywhere

“It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” J.K. Rowling

I consider myself a decisive person in that I will make decisions. Occasionally they’re even good ones. That Leaf, Barley & Vine opened at all is Exhibit “A” for both being decisive and stumbling onto a good one now and again.

One debate I find myself in with some is whether not making a decision can be equally decisive. I contend there are situations where deciding to not do anything is just as powerful as doing “something” and can, in fact have equal positive or negative impact.

Starting a business from conception will test anyone’s decision-making process and ability. The sheer magnitude of things to be considered, weighed, measured and acted upon (doing something or not) can be overwhelming.

The more time spent planning, the more detailed the plans, the more research devoted and options weighed will create a roadmap that make decision making merely the process of consulting the plan and pointing to the answer. Thus time, energy and money are saved.

Under lessons learned and things I would do differently is planning. Doing it again I would spend more time getting the plan for each element more finite and detailed. I would spend more time with the architects, designers and builders on creating more exact and detailed plans to help prevent delays, cost overruns and last-minute snap decisions.

I once wrote about this subject – Invest More - where I counsel about asking critical questions about what the money is being used for and it’s relative value.

Yep, doing it all again I would have the plan pinned down tight and that would have led to lower costs, higher quality and a quicker opening.

Not so fast, my friend.

You see, plans are important, and they will make everything go more smoothly and save time and money. But there’s also such thing as over-planning where so much time is spent analyzing drawings, schematics, paint chips, vendor lists, equipment manufacturers, potential competitors, potential partners, and so on that you never get around to actually doing anything. And if you never open the doors then you never start generating revenue.

So many things look differently when the work actually begins, especially when remodeling an old building. What’s behind the walls does not necessarily correspond to the architectural drawing, interior design ideas look different on the wall as opposed to on the design board, and wines that have great reviews may not work upon being tasted. My favorite story is I kept badgering my contractor about how he wanted to make decisions on many of the cosmetic items at ten o’clock in the morning. My contention was we were going to be a night business and things look totally different at night under the lights than on a sunny summer morning. My advantage since I live in the building is I would wander down at night and just take the place in. It’s amazing the difference artificial light and shadows make to how a place looks and feels.

So many of the plans changed as the work actually happened, and anyone who’s ever built anything knows that doing, undoing and redoing is where the real waste of money comes into play.

In the world of software development it’s called Agile development. Agile development is where you decide what you want the finished product to be and start building it using short development cycles called Sprints. At the end of each Sprint (each one being 2-3 weeks in duration) everyone sits down, reviews the progress, solidifies the next sprint and the work continues. This way at the end of the last sprint you have something that’s nearly finished. The other way – called a watershed approach – painstakingly lays out the entire project before beginning.

The key point is no matter how much time and effort you spend planning once the building starts you’re going to discover things different from the plan. What’s on paper just doesn’t always translate to reality. This is where staying true to the vision and knowing what the finished product is supposed to do is imperative but the road getting there is filled with change.

I would say with LBV it was a bit of a mix. For one thing I had to have some of the architectural design complete in order to pass the city’s project review. Plus I had to have some idea what this thing was going to cost and be able to hold people to their estimates. And yes, I had overruns and it went over budget but almost without exception each one caused the finished product to be better and true to the vision.

But along with other lessons learned, the “let’s look at things at night” one is a keeper. Next time I’ll have all decision-making meetings at 10PM.

Next: Episode 4: It’s sometimes better to be lucky

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 2: The interview

“So tell me Jimmy, what made you decide to start a Soul band in Dublin?” Jimmy Rabbitte

Jimmy Rabbitte’s self-interview in the movie “The Commitments” was masterful, so I figured it would work here. The great thing about interviewing yourself is you get to ask the questions you want to answer. So what follows is a list of the most common questions I’ve gotten about starting the business plus some that I think should be asked.

So Greg, what made you start a business?
It was self defense. I was sitting on an empty building with no prospects of selling it and slim prospects of leasing it. I needed to generate some revenue and if it wasn’t coming from someone else then I guess it was going to come from me. I tried whining about it but my goldfish seemed unsympathetic.

Was having a wine bar always a dream of yours?
No, not really. Oh, I always thought it would be cool to own a bar. And if I had one I wanted it be unique, fun and different. But a wine bar? Not necessarily. Wine is like so many things, you think you know something about a subject until you meet people who REALLY know about it. Whereas I probably know more about wine than a lot of people, I don’t know a fraction that some of the people I’ve met know.

No, I used my product management expertise to look around town and see what we didn’t have and came up with three things that could co-exist and were personally interesting. Those were a classic wine bar, a great cigar store and a place to have after-dinner desserts and drinks.

Didn’t starting a new business in the depths of economic disaster scare you?
Scared wouldn’t be accurate. Terrified would probably be closer to the mark.

Actually once the decision was made the fear subsided. Probably because there was never enough time to think about it and partly because there’s great power in action. Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

OK, maybe a bit cerebral for someone like me, how about John Wayne, “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway”

Did you have any experience with something like this?
None whatsoever, but that didn’t really bother me. I’ve spent my entire career being thrown into things of which I had no previous knowledge, new companies, new technologies, new disciplines, new cities, new countries. I’ve become almost immune to worrying about being ignorant. Of course, maybe I’m just not smart enough to realize how risky that attitude is.

Was getting a liquor license difficult?
Yes…and no. The state created a new license designed for redevelopment situations. Not only did I have to qualify but the city (Brighton Michigan) had to also qualify. I was fortunate that my city has embraced these and was able to provide me great support and guidance. Then I just had to follow the path. There were some classic head-scratching political hoops to jump through but to be absolutely fair I found the people within the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) to be helpful, friendly and fair.

What are the most common compliments you get?
“This is exactly what we’ve needed around here”. “I love the atmosphere”. “Great wine list” “Great people”

What’s the most common criticism?
“It’s not big enough”

So, why didn’t you make it bigger?
The building was done it two parts. The original part – where the bar is – is a remodeled ex-gas station. It’s relatively small inside but has a great look for what we wanted to create from an image standpoint. It also has a great patio area. The “new” section that was built later is much larger but doesn’t have access to the patio area.

Part of the decision was practical. I felt the patio was essential and the smaller space would equate to a smaller initial investment. Although the move to do this was bold I wasn’t willing to take on the risk of taking on the entire space plus I had found someone to lease the larger area.

How did you find your people?
Well, how the person that became the managing partner came about is discussed in a later episode, so we’ll save that one. The others came primarily from Craig’s List. Evidently that’s the gold standard for this industry.

I’m very happy with the staff. They’re good, honest, hard working and fun. I really like being around them and the customers love them.

Did it turn out like you expected?
Yes…and no. Yes in that it has a really great look and feel to it like I expected it would. No in that it’s WAY better than I envisioned.

Knowing what you know now would you do it again?
Absolutely! I would just do it quicker. I spent a lot of time dawdling while hoping the building would sell. I now wish I would have moved swifter and opened earlier. However, in an upcoming episode I’ll discuss why that might have ended up not working out as well.

What would you do differently next time?
I’m going to discuss that later.

Why do you keep putting answers off? I already know what you’ve written.
Yes, but I might change my mind.

Whatever. Thanks for your time Greg.
You’re welcome.

Next: Episode 3: Decisions, decisions everywhere

The LBV Chronicles

Episode 1: The beginning of the beginning

“But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.” Mitch Albom

In late October 2009 Leaf, Barley & Vine opened to the public (http://www.leafbarleyvine.com/). Spring boarding off my Tales from an XOD blog I’ve decided to write about the experience. Partly to capture key points in case I ever want to do it again, partly to share the lessons learned, partly to put salve on some of the wounds, and partly to amuse myself. Actually reverse the order.

Episode 1 is a preamble to set the stage.

In 1999 I got talked into buying a decrepit ex-gas station/transmission shop which was subsequently remodeled and in which my late wife Bonnie opened her business. Once completed we often talked about what a cool wine bar it would make given its European motif and its large patio area. But her business caught the wave and liquor licenses were tough to come by so over the next eight years her business expanded and thrived. The adjoining property was bought, the building expanded and a cool loft apartment that was built above. Things progressed until Bonnie was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and the business was shut down in April 2008 prior to her passing away that September.

When Bonnie was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in June 2004 – accurately described as a “treatable but incurable” cancer – the plan was to sell the business, sell the building and enjoy as much time as possible trying to cram 30 years into a handful. Through a series of events – some evil, some naïve, some unfortunate – neither the business nor the building got sold. Eradicating the business was straight-forward. The inventory was sold off, bills were paid and there was even a surplus. The building was much more problematic.

The aftermath of losing a spouse, friend, partner and compass was one of getting through the holidays with the kids and I offering essential support to each other. But once into January 2009 I was faced with a fact that had all the finesse of a ball peen hammer between the eyes. I had totally missed my opportunity to sell the building prior to the collapse of the economy, which was felt more here in Michigan than any other state,

Winter is tough in a lot of places. Here in Southeastern Michigan it’s brutal. It’s cold, dark, cloudy, has too much snow but not enough to make it a “winter wonderland” I’m personally amazed there’s not more suicides around here, but I figure people in that mood just drive around Detroit for a couple of hours and become a victim. Much better for insurance purposes.

So it’s January. I’m sitting on a cold, empty building that probably won’t sell and will be tough to burn.

This is where I found myself one year ago today

Next: Episode 2: The Interview