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GOOD TO GREAT FOR PROFESSIONALS & SMALL BUSINESS

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns
out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline."

Jim Collins author of Good to Great

The Santa Barbara Women’s CPA Lunch Group and The CPA♦Law Society of Santa Barbara county are co-hosting a premier event for the small businesses and professionals in our community on September 17, 2007.
Based on the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, the event will feature a presentation by documentary film maker Sam Tyler that includes case studies, film clips and his personal insight.

For more information and a registration form, contact: Brenda@BrendaRichterCPA.com
Or, visit: www.sbwcpalg.com

Please forward this information to anyone you
think might be interested.

SAVE THE DATE

The Santa Barbara Women's CPA Lunch Group and The CPA/Law Society of Santa Barbara County are co-hosting as special event for small businesses.

Topic: Good to Great for Professionals and Small Business
Date: September 17, 2007

Based on the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, documentary film maker Sam Tyler will provide a customized presentation using several case studies and parts of his various films (including Good to Great) to show professionals and small businesses how they can create truly great businesses here in Santa Barbara.

Thank you to:
Our Platinum Sponsor - Business First Bank
Gold Sponsors - TBA
Supporting Organizations - Santa Barbara Chapter of ASWA & Others TBA

Watch blog posts for more information.

It's What You Stand For

“It’s not what you make. It’s what you stand
for.”

Jim Collins

With that in mind, many businesses will create a mission statement and establish a set of core values.

The first step is to create a mission statement and establish a set of core values. The second step, which many businesses fail to do, is to incorporate the mission statement and core values into everything the business does.

Take, for example, a CPA firm. Let’s say that they establish Integrity as one of their core values. If you call that firm and ask for a price for various service, more likely than not, you will get a response similar to this: “Our fees are based on the time required by the individuals assigned to the engagement, plus direct expenses. Individual hourly rates vary according to the degree of responsibility involved and the skill required.”

How does that response answer your question? It doesn’t. And, where’s the integrity in that?

In order to stand for something, a business needs to have a mission statement and a set of core values. And, these must be incorporated into everything the business does, including pricing policies, sales process, product/service offerings, customer selection criteria, etc.

Does your CPA stand for something? Do they have a mission statement and a set of core values? Have they incorporated these into everything they do, including pricing? Or is there a disconnect between what they say and do?

On a final note, is you need to create a mission statement, establish a set of core values, and incorporate these into everything your business does, talk to a Principa CPA. He/she has the tools and special worksheets to get you started and complete the process.

Read this first....then go to the link

The Honda Commercial

And you thought those people that set up roomfuls of dominos to knock over were amazing. There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in this film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it.

The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions.

The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including full engineering of the sequence. In addition, it's two minutes long so every time Honda airs the film on television, they're spending enough money to keep any one of us comfortable for a lifetime.

However, it is fast becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history. Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free viewing" (Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this commercial!).

When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.

There are six and only six hand-made Honda Accords in the world. To the horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film.

Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars.

The voice over is Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten.

They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real. Oh, and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet.

The commercial is truly a tribute to innovation and perserverance.

As Ronald Reagan once said,

"There are no great limits to growth because
there are no limits to human
intelligence, imagination, and
wonder."

The commercial is available for viewing at either of the following sites:

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/honda.php

http://www.steelcitysfinest.com/HondaAccordAd.htm