Special Thanks Are In Order!

After taking a few days off to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend AND to support Small Business Saturday, Acceler8Success Cafe is back. And to start the week, I’d like to do so by expressing my utmost gratitude around Small Business Saturday.

Thanks to everyone across major cities and local communities alike who showed their support through this year’s Small Business Saturday event by making the decision to #shoplocal #shopsmall #dinelocal #dinesmall #shopfranchise #dinefranchise.

Your participation and efforts in bringing more awareness to small business and franchising is greatly appreciated. Hopefully, #AmericanExpress and #AmericanExpressBusiness will take note and #franchising will continue to have a greater role in the event for years to come.

That said, I say thanks to #AMEX for their commitment to help #smallbusiness. However, I do have a request that I’m sure is also on the minds of many — please, additional focus on the restaurant sector of small business would be greatly appreciated!

The quote below definitely puts my thoughts into perspective about restaurant owners and franchisees being small business owners just the same as Mom & Pop / independent small business owners.

“Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” — Peter F. Drucker

To all who have made the courageous decision to own and operate a business, I thank you. And to all who have invested their hard-earned money, who have worked endless hours, who continue to give back to their local communities, and who have provided jobs, I cannot thank you enough.

Let’s all work toward ensuring the spirit of #smallbusinesssaturday lives on throughout the year!

As I typically end my articles with a message of making it happen and making it count, I thought I’d share the following story by Peter Shankman that this morning popped up on my Facebook Memories. I believe it’s especially relevant considering recent news of recession, economic uncertainty, inflation, and layoffs.

If you want success, you have to accept risk!

“I was working at AOL in the 1990’s when the company let go of 300 people. I was one of them. The movie, Titanic was coming out, so I took my rent money and had 500 t-shirts printed that read, “It sank. Get over it.” If I didn’t sell those shirts, I was homeless. I sold 500 shirts in 6 hours and made five grand. Then I called USA Today and gave a reporter the story. I sold 10,000 shirts on the Web over the next two months and ultimately racked up 100 grand. That was my very first company.”

Thank you Peter Shankman for sharing you’re very inspiring story. It resonates so well in the shadows of Small Business Saturday and of course, for small business ownership.

The Home Stretch

December is no different than any other month in that it represents 1/12 of the year. So, if you’re looking to end the year on a high note, efforts must remain focused just as they were at the beginning of the year or when starting a new quarter.

Don’t count the days until the holidays, or until year’s end. Instead, make the days count — each and every one of them. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the holidays. Just think how much more you’ll enjoy them if December were a record sales month for your organization. And, think about the emotional high by starting the new year on an upswing.

Thank you to all readers and subscribers of Acceler8Success Cafe. I greatly appreciate all of you!

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!