Inspiration

What do you do and where do you go for inspiration for your small business or project?

For each of us, the answers to these questions are bound to be different. Some people might smoke a cigarette or something more illicit. Others may go surfing on a cyber wave or off the Malibu coast for that matter. Still others may sit and journal quietly till they hit upon that "thing" by free associating. I like to walk myself. Tonight, I walked all the way to Times Square from Downtown Brooklyn, from the court-house at 360 Adams Street, across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall, through Chinatown and Soho, past Union Square and Grand Central, to Times Square. It is not a long walk as far as long walks go, but it is enough of a walk that I can do a lot of thinking about what I was doing and what I wanted to do, and to find inspiration in all the things that abound around me. I took in the sounds of the traffic, the honking taxi cabs, and the incessant chatter of New York folks going about their Friday night. I took in the heady combination of smells of roasting nuts, street-side hot dogs with relish (and that red meat on the stick), smoke, and perfume. And I relished the sights of the city, from the skyline ahead--Metlife, the Chrysler Builging, to the bright neon jumbotrons in Times Square (from Nasdaq, The Lion King and Toshiba.) And of course, there were all the people, so thickly packed on the city streets, I could barely get by on my way to my inspiration. Where was I going? I was not sure. I had not mapped a destination. I had not set my GPS. I was just walking, just searching for that natural high note that always comes to me in the form of an idea, thought or observation when I take long walks in NYC. By the time, I head back South, to Brooklyn (by subway), I was so incredibly refreshed and full of new ideas and motivations. I was newly and freshly inspired.

How do you find inspiration?

Influence

People with influence are people who have the ability to change things, and to find solutions where others are unable to do so. You might think that only people with money have influence. But you are wrong. Not that money doesn't make a big difference in a disproportionate number of times. Because money does talk and often, it is difficult to wield any influence without it.

But everyday people, including small business owners, can have a lot of influence in their world and space just by coming up with ideas and coming up with solutions to problems that others can't solve. For example, your business idea may come from a solution you have devised for a problem that everybody else either thought was unfixable, or were too busy putting band aids on to find a true solution.

And influence also means being willing to be unpopular, and called crazy in order to bring about change. But influence can't occur in a vacuum. You do need people to sign up for and to your idea. It is not enough to influence just oneself. One must be able to influence others - their behavior, thought processes, mind set and preconceived ideas.

As a small business person, success could come down to your ability to influence others.

Vegas

Running a small business? You might want to move to Vegas. I heard that it is the place to be during a recession. It was one of the few industries that made money during the Great Depression. It sure made something of Steve Wynn and Kirk Kerkorian. I mean, Kirk's having some trouble with some bad investments in the auto industry, but the former owner of MGM is still a billionaire, and he started out poor, and has only an 8th grade education. Well, I should say, I read that he only has an 8th grade education, but I am not certain that this is true.

Whatever the case may be, the man grew himself from poverty to filthy rich. Same with Wynn, although, Wynn was never poor. Wyn has built so many hotels in Vegas including the Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas and Treasure Island.

I am not saying you should go to Vegas and start building hotels. Believe me one of those babies will probably run you a billion dollars. No. What I am saying is that there is bound to be some derivative business you can run down there, something you can offer the established industry, as a small business person, that could net you some cash. Because, look around you. There is a real blood bath across the globe right now. People need to feel happy again. I think the most profitable businesses will be those that make people forget their problems. If you can't build the hotels and the casinos, find some product or service you can offer them.

Vegas seems a good place to start. What do you think?

I should disclose that I'm up to page 40 of Winner Takes All by Christina Binkley so I've got Vegas on the cerebral cortex!

Taxes

The tax man cometh. Where shall he find you? At the front door welcoming him in? In the kitchen drinking Chevas Regal from the bottle? Under the bed? I know where I'll be but what about you?

Small businesses may get a good break this year from the tax man. Actually, if president Elect Barack Obama's stimulus plan (reportedly in the trillions) passes, then maybe it's safe to say that everyone, including rich Americans, will get some help and breaks from the tax man this year. For sure, it's not as if anybody, except maybe for personal injury lawyers, psychiatrists and heart surgeons made any money this year. Billionaires around the world are literally killing themselves. I worry sometimes about people like the Trumpster. But he's the ultimate comeback kid. And ultimately, I think he understand it's just money. A thing. A commodity. It's not your life. It is not you....same goes for us little small folks, by the way.

Doing the taxes should be fun this year. Many small business will have massive losses so that means no taxes. There are bound to be a lot of expenses, exemptions and credits that will even make this more fun. So fear not. Do you do the taxes yourself or do you get an accountant? I'm thinking that no matter what you've done in the past, this is a good year to hire an accountant.