The right management team transforms chaos into calm
Experienced executives bring structure, motivate employees and influence customers, and help you scale.
Built to scale: why growth entrepreneurs need structure
It’s how second-stage leaders replicate themselves, build high-performing teams, expand market share, and hone their competitive edge.
Sheboygan County Chamber
“There’s great value in seeing that I’m not the only one with a problem and my reasoning is very similar to other business owners,” says Lynn Potyen
Feed the cat first: Its basic needs must be met before you move on
I had a cat. Actually, I hosted several of Michigan’s most pampered felines at our research center for products such as Tidy Cat and Kitty Litter. All they had to do is eat, play, sleep and do what cats are supposed to in the litter box.
Advertising is a reminder — selling is the real issue
It’s tempting for an entrepreneur to dump a bunch of money into advertising to tell the world about his new product. And though I agree that it is important to spread the word, a ton of great ads won’t help if your product isn’t front and center on the shelves where people can buy it.I learned this right from the start with my Kitty Litter, which was a totally new concept back in 1947.
To score success, you must be willing to make mistakes
Remember Chicken Litter? I’m not surprised; it got about as far off the ground as a hen in flight. But without it, there might never have been a Kitty Litter, which revolutionized life for pet owners and earned me more than a few dollars in the process.I was in my 20s, laboring in my father’s sand and gravel business, and chafing to climb out of the rut we seemed to be in. When my father started buying crumbled clay to use as an industrial oil and grease absorbent, I looked for other ways to use the material. One day, I was talking to a guy about nesting chickens, and the Big Idea kicked in.
When a cow chases you…
There’s much you need to know to make your dreams come true, but as an entrepreneur one of the most important, and perhaps difficult, is this: Focus.Learning, or rather training yourself, to focus on one project, one goal, one dream at a time is key to your ultimate success.
Never call time out when you’re winning
Everybody knows the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, and what happened to the rabbit when he stopped to rest on his cotton-tailed laurels. Well, I should have listened to Aesop.Like that rabbit, my cat-box filler business was racing full throttle in the 1960s.
Don’t get too big for your britches
That’s one of the warnings my Grandpa Huber always gave me, and I’ll wager you heard something similar as you grew up. As a teen-ager, I was pretty smug, and Grandpa’s caution was well deserved.But we can be just as vulnerable to egomania as adults. It’s easy for entrepreneurs to let success go to our heads, especially if you build an idea into a prosperous business. The “bad old days” fade like a cheap curtain.
If you don’t love it, you’ll probably leave it
nce after I spoke at a college commencement ceremony, a young graduate approached me with a question. “Mr. Lowe,” she asked, “since you’ve become a successful entrepreneur, I’d like to ask your advice about a venture I have in mind.” Of course, I lent her an ear.”I’d like to set up a dry-cleaning business,” she explained. “In Paris.”