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To the love of my life, Tomoko.
To my children. You have captured my spirt, heart and every breathe.
My ventures belong to you. This is your user manual.
The passwords are in the back of the book.
I love you!
Daddio
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There are two types of people. Entrepreneurs and everyone else.
This is a manual for those in business, not those thinking about, dreaming about, and, by gosh, talking about being in business.
The difference in the reader is profound. The wannabe is just looking for outside validation to make their "decision" to be in business okay.
It is not okay. No sane person would choose to be an entrepreneur.
The purposeful choice of "trial by fire" is not logical. Keep your day job and stay away. Look at the pictures on your desk. Stare at your PC and stay put.
My editor says I am supposed to say something nice here. Like, oh gee if you really want to… Bullshit. If you still want to be an entrepreneur after reading this book, then it might be ok.
Otherwise use this book to understand that your cubicle is a safe place. If you don’t know how to drive the road is safer without you.
I've given myself six weeks to write this book. I am 50 now and in six weeks I'll be 51. The Venture Business Manual contains the reflections of a real-life serial entrepreneur (actually, I am a serial delegator) that can claim 43 years of venture business activity.
You might be wondering why you should keep reading this book. You don't know who I am, and you're probably wondering what kind of value I can provide an entrepreneur like yourself. These are good questions, so let me answer them for you with a short recap of my various successes and spectacular failures so you can develop a screenshot image of who I am:
I have raised millions from New York Hedge funds and accredited investors.
I've built an email service just shy of 1 million Japanese users by
2004 that grew of a BBS circa 1990.
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I got little old ladies to give me returnable bottles, so I can buy a pony when I was 7. Dad challenged me to pay half. I did it in two weeks.
I climbed and cut palm trees 60 feet in the air in exchange for my college tuition and a free year of golf.
I got blacklisted by the Japanese government in 1996 and survived that, even getting an apology from the Prime Minister's Office in 2004. I was also pardoned by the Japanese Emperor, which begs some questions!
I've been in solar since 2000 and I've been making profit since year 1. (Not a big profit as I keep investing back into my business.)
My firm has no debt and is set up so no one can take my lunch.
You will learn how to protect your equity in this book.
I can spot trends and I can sell them.
Now that you know you're not talking to some hopeful entrepreneur looking to make a buck, let's get into the meat and potatoes of what this book is all about.
Relentless is the keyword for success in venture business. You can choose any business and make your living. If you are thinking about it, then it has a market niche and you can play to that market.
Anything.
Got an idea? You can sell it with this Venture Business Manual by being relentless.
Furthermore, all business has one thing in common: a Customer.
This book is focused on the customer interactions and the process that must happen to move from prospect, to pending, to sold, to done.
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The Venture Business Manual has three pillars:
1. Sales
2. Delivery
3. Administration
This is the order that I like. SDA. I'll be using these terms throughout the manual. 2 and 3 are "easy". 1 is the game. Sales,
Delivery and Administration form the foundation of any business of any size. This puts the customer at the center, focuses business activities and carries out what is needed first.
Your venture business is all about your client's Pursuit-of-Happiness. This is a heavy responsibility that drives me, and the content of The Venture Business Manual is primarily written to help you focus on delivering promises to customers. Success is only defined by a happy paid-in-full client. Your very survival depends on it.
Part lecture and part reference book, The Venture Business Manual will allow quick use to solve problems and deeper thought for perfecting Sales, Delivery and Administration (SDA).
Use The Venture Business Manual to avoid being road kill. (Watch out in your city of the “Avoid Being Road Kill” tour. This book live will be a kick in the pants.)
Each pillar of Sales, Delivery and Administration has many bricks that are the anchor to your business. In the Sales pillar, I detail strategies around telemarketing, advertising, golden voices and more. Delivery is focused on quality and how to comply and beat regulations. Administration is the third, and hardest pillar to nail down, but it becomes the great relaxer if done correctly.
I love what I do as a venture businessman. I raised 4 million dollars in 1995 for an internet dial-up access business in Japan that is about as hair raising of a story as can be told. Since 2000, my pursuit of happiness has been ABC Solar Incorporated and SDA's role in its birth, youth and continuous search of perfection.
Thank you. Bradley Bartz
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Sales drives everything.
That moment when the client reaches into their wallet and buys is magic. Cha-ching! Getting to that point is a very calculated effort to process leads to fruition. Nurture, Contact, Close.
The Sales Section has potent methodologies that has served me well in building each my businesses since 1979. By the time this book is done I will be able to claim 30 years of Venture Business success and spectacular failures. Failures that contain lessons and led to new adventures. Successes that are the foundation for Revenue for Eternity for my family. RFE.
I coined the phrase: The Law of Internet Eternity which states that if you sell something once on the Internet you will sell again. Life is a circle and so is the sales department. Surround-The-Space in chapter 16 has details about:
Soft-sell Telemarketing
Marketing to Competitors
Online Industry Newsletters
Industry Events
Websites
Speeches and White Papers
Press Releases
Marketing to Employees
My experience in Delivery, over the last 30 years, is in training, placement, shipping & handling, online services (servers and websites), consulting reports, retail, export (just longer shipping & handling), and renewable energy construction.
Successful Delivery is the effort to keep promises and the magic of communication while-in-progress to keep clients informed.
Delivery management is the key to your Venture Business. You must educate yourself and your sales team on what your company
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can deliver. In order to be successful, you need to find your first client, deliver and repeat.
In order to feel great about it again and again you have to deliver on the promise that you sold them in the first place.
Moreover, Delivery relies on effective timing of purchasing and availability of resources for your team to execute. Your business must establish your supply chain prior to selling your promise.
Administration is not just the Third Pillar of your business, but it also keeps all processes in its responsibility. The new among us will spend too much time on Administration on their first business.
Each founding document will be framed and put on the wall. So nice. But a huge waste of time and a very dangerous waste of time.
Why? Because your first efforts have to be on being able to sell your solution. Your Administrative actions will be driven by the growth of the business. It does add some stress when you have to quickly get your books up to standard, but once done your operations take on a mature feeling.
This book is entrepreneurial reflections with the clear goal of creating The Venture Business Manual to be usable.
Long ago, my dad said, "Brad I don't know why you are asking for advice. You are going to do what you want to do anyway."
I answered, "True, I will make my decision, but I seek all points of information, so I can to make that decision better."
Write down your business plan. Write down your thoughts. And know this. If you plan your business right, you can survive the rollercoaster and be the exception to the rule.
Always remember: Sales, Delivery and Administration is your structure. Each works with the other to make your dreams and the promises you give your clients come true.
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A telephone conversation is a meandering path that sometimes follows the goals of the original call.
All sales and marketing is about getting in the path of the buyer as he is making the buying decision. It's those lucky moments that make the cold call the most powerful tool in business. When you hear, "I am glad you called," your blood starts pumping.
All sales and marketing can be defined in one word: Statistics.
Making that first cold call is stressful and it intimidates so many. It should.
Be scared, pull out your check book and hire me instead.
Hold on. This book is going to take the stress right out of cold calling for you. (sly grin, “I doubt it,” said the little guy on my left shoulder.”) My job in this book is burn the word Statistics into your every sales and marketing thought.
The following effective strategies are not in a particular order.
Each tool or effort are used in concert on every cold call. They will become second nature if you practice, and, when it does, you will become a sales weapon.
The Seven Faces
Take out a piece of paper and, on the left-hand side, draw 7 faces ranging from friendly to angry. Draw a vertical line to the right of the faces. Under each face draw a horizontal line to the edge.
Title the page "The Seven Faces". Grab a clipboard and keep this by your telephone.
In the first 3 seconds put a checkmark by the type of face you hear on the phone. That's it. Do this for every phone conversation.
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The Seven Faces
Face 1: The Grin
Face 2: The Smile
Face 3: The Neutral
Face 4: The Surprised
Face 5: The Lonely
Face 6: The Disturbed
Face 7: The Angry
you have. Inbound, outbound. Get in the habit of picking a face to a voice on the other end of the phone.
Why? It's all about focus. The Seven Faces focus your attention to the fact that you are talking to another human. Believe it or not, a real person is attached to the voice on the other end of the line.
Why? It's all about personality matching. My goal is to guide your telephone persona to learn to mimic the personality of the voice.
Mimic without getting caught. Each face you have drawn is your own personality from friendly to angry. You are check marking the voice to moods that all humans have.
The Seven Faces are just a tick on the path to understand your role in the cold call.
Rate of Speech
Can you learn to match the rate of speech of the voice from the other end? To learn this is vital to your success. You can practice everywhere. Politicians speak at about 30 words per minute.
Salesmen can be clocked at 300 wpm. Watch news and count words. Practice yourself with a tape recorder. A 30-second radio commercial typically has 75 words. Practice this one hard. You need to be able to match your rate of speech to the voice.
Our job in the cold call is to create sub-conscious comfort that allows a conversation to take place.
By matching the voice's rate of speech, you show that you are listening. A key trait needed for a sales career is the ability to listen. This Rate of Speech tool focuses your cold call to the human attached to the disembodied voice.
And Brad said, in a ________ face, "I am going to stick to the easy
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cold call tool sets for now." What face would you check for that statement?
So far I have taught you to identify the personality of the voice and to match the rate of speech. Now I will teach you to become the other voice. Are you ready?
I proudly present …The Mirror
Go to Target or a junk shop and buy a mirror that can be mounted at eye level on your desk near your phone. Plain is best. (or, turn this book over for the mirror printed on the back cover!)
This maybe the most powerful tool that will get you into the skin of the voice. It is uncanny what it will do. Within moments your refection begins to mimic the facial expressions of the voice.
Sounds crazy? It's not.
After you practice check marking the seven faces, and your training gets your rate of speech to mimic the voice on the other end, your image in the mirror turns into the voice of the person you're talking to. You will actually start having conversations that are engaging, entertaining and human.
I am not sure you are ready for the next tip. So, I am going to vamp a while and talk about other very important aspects of the cold call. Why? Because the next tool is so powerful it can be abused and if you get caught you will lose the sale.
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Hold on to your seats!
Sometimes Cold Calls are sticky. You remember the words, their tone and your expression of them. I have made close to 100,000 cold-calls in my career so far. Still, a few stick out and for this book they play the role of bringing warmth to the cold call.
My favorite cold call story was hard to choose. I started dialing-for-dollars when I was fourteen years old, selling advertising on a local radio station. A sitcom environment of a blood-bank pitch book and a radio station booth with reel-to-reel tapes spinning.
The pitch books all had a central theme. A blood bank is coming to town and we are hoping you will sponsor with an ad that would sound like this:
"The next blood bank at Peninsula Center is on June 16th. Please come and donate blood and receive a coupon for a free drink with your pizza at Lampost Pizza on Rolling Hills Road."
Every cold call pitch started with a "Hi this is Brad Lee from CVLA a quadrophonic stereo station…" Then I would follow with pages and pages of rebuttals to every version of No you have ever thought of.
The radio station was located at 777 Silver Spur Drive, Rolling Hills Estates, CA. The address is boldly presented in 5' tall sevens on the corner. Very cool place to get my first job. The office was on the 1st floor in the corner back right, and I clearly remember there was a tan door with a curtained window with signage saying CVLA. I digress.
On occasion clients would say "excuse me miss, I am not interested." Then I would promptly change my name to Brenda and start working the pitch book for rebuttals. My voice was not cracked yet at 14. I remember these moments fondly.
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My two years with Frank Jolley at CVLA were a daily upgrade in my communication and sales skills. Frank was specifically teaching me to listen to the client, and to ignore all other distractions.
His method was simple: would be aggressive in your free ear and when you moved the handset to the other ear he would move and agitate you until you fluster. I did. I put down the phone and looked up and said, "You're so loud, I can't listen!"
He said, "if you set down the phone again, you're fired."
Those were the early days, and they are some of the fondest in memory. I quickly removed the eraser from my pencil and used that to dial the rotary phone. The radio experience was fun, but does it live up to my best cold call moment? Almost.
When John Logan smiled it put a shudder in my knees and a smile that was wide. John was one of my students of Telemarketing at my non-for-profit company Telemarketing Visions Institute, Inc.
Our mission was to teach blind people how to sell on the telephone and get good careers. John was blind and in his mid-forties, and he had the biggest smile that I can remember.
When I gave him his first paycheck, he said, "thank you, Brad.
This is my first ever paycheck!" Over the years I learned that John had a long career with telephone sales with great success. To this day I am proud to have taught John telemarketing and the art of the cold call.
Running the not-for-profit TVI during my time at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles did not pay the bills. So I had to get a job and obviously I went and got a telemarketing gig.
Fox Communications was in a 11-story tower on Santa Monica
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Fox Communications was in a 11-story tower on Santa Monica Blvd with a suite of just-wide-enough for human cubicles filled with cold-calling telemarketers. Fox dialed for donor dollars on behalf of environmental charities by selling calendars. A large group of applicants were given a briefing about the firm and then we were handed 10 index cards with a lead each and told to grab a booth.
The script was basic. Say hello. Say great things about the Audubon Society and pitch the calendar. Basically, the Blood Bank pitch I grew up on.
I put down the pitch book and put the phone and index cards neatly on the table in front of me. To the right of the index cards I had a scratch pad and pencil. I was comfortable.
I dialed the first one. Introduced myself and as I always do, took a moment to sincerely ask "how are you.? The conversation about the goal of the call, e.g. supporting Audubon by buying a cool calendar, was had. I sold it.
Those next to me and the room manager noticed. I smiled.
I dialed and sold the second and third. The room went silent. No one else was dialing. I notice the door open and management humans came in. I never put down the handset. It was glued to my left shoulder.
I go in for number four and nailed it. Now I'm surprised. The room gasped. Not quite yet, but I felt I might be floating in my chair.
Number five was a hit and a miss. Polite, funny conversation, but still a no. The emotion let out by the crowd felt like them saying,
"ok, he's just human."
I look up, scan the room with a smile and turn, dial and speak. I closed 6 and 7. The feeling is electric, and the eyes of the room are big, wide and curious. The manager of that group of applicants did have a twinkle of fear in his eyes.
6 out of 7 and I have three index cards to go. Gosh, I so want to
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did have a twinkle of fear in his eyes.
6 out of 7 and I have three index cards to go. Gosh, I so want to share my next telemarketing trick with you, but I advise myself to wait.
Oh! wait, a funny detail! Every telemarketer at Fox Communications used the name "Pat Murphy". The reason was so when a client called in and asked for Pat anyone could be the point person. I know more about the early bastards of telemarketing than one should. At least we did not use predictive dialers or computers voices.
Closing a sale releases chemicals in the brain that make you high.
I was flying high as a kite by this point. But still my training and professional telephone skills were on display.
I called and closed 8, 9 and the 10th client. I closed 9 out of 10 cold-calls with a room full of witnesses. Not a single conversation followed the script Fox gave me. What the other prospective employees and managers heard was the client voice coming out of me. Every call had a different rate of speech, key words, and with each call I mentally check marked which type of the Seven Faces I was speaking to.
I thought that was a pretty cool telemarketing moment. But, was it my favorite? How would you vote so far? Brenda and a girl's voice without skipping a beat? The generosity of teaching the blind and John's first paycheck at 40? Or wizard works in closing 9 out of 10 at my Fox Communication job interview?
Ok, one more telemarking and sales story that happened before Fox when I as 18. This story will have three very valuable lessons for Venture Business Survival. My fingers want me to be short and to the point so you can vote on these four telemarketing moments as your favorite. But, my spirit is ordering me to weave teachings to show the impact of one successful cold-call of a
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The phone room was in the back of the warehouse in what felt like a converted closet. Lou, Stanley and I sat at the three desks with partitions. Stanley at the endcap and Lou and I opposite each other.
We were selling prescription eyeglass frames to optical shops across America. Selling glasses to doctors was the territory of the suits, the outdoor salesmen.
The telemarketing effort was scoffed at, "you can't sell glasses unless the doctor holds them," was the common refrain.
Stanley was a human computer. Back in 1983 paper was all we had. He devised a CRM system that worked well. Basically,
clients were put in folders and titled A1, A2, A3, etc.
On our desks we had a flip-calendar where we would mark our call backs. The two-letter designation meant you could fit dozens of callback references on the calendar pages. This system allowed rapid and professional telemarketing.
Each client also had the "Stanley" form. This was a single-page form that was truly a work of art. I have continued to use this basic and needed sales information registry in new computer programs.
The Stanley had room for name, address, phone, all the standard information needed. It had a large section for notes that allowed timestamping the conversation. Since we always use humor in our phone conversations the Stanley had a joke section so you did not repeat when you tried again.
I practice "Out-of-body sales experiences" so I can watch myself close. This came out of this Hodes Optical phone room.
With Stanley's system we could do 30 cold call conversations in 4 hours. We sold a wide variety of prescription eyeglasses, almost 200 different frames. The outdoor sales manager Roger brought a big briefcase full of frames and the Hodes catalog. His
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spectacular dresser with polished black shoes that were loud when he walked across the floor to our closet.
Lou took me under his wing and started to mold my skills with specific intent. The seven faces I would learn later, but the fucking mirror was the stroke of genius. All three of us would dial manically, create rapport, sent catalogues and created a "milk route". The simple goal, which still holds true today, was to have 300 active clients to service. It took many thousands of cold calls to get to a steady base of clients.
Everyday you would do both. Call what your calendar told you to call, your follow-ups, and make new cold calls. As a team of three we impressed the warehouse staff when orders for Stanley would happen on his day off. Same for would be for all of us. We were a team and would call on each others Calendar calls when one was out. It was easier to close accounts that way! For some reason the clients really liked that we were covering for each other.
Every state in America. That is how I approached my cold calls once I settled in. Methodically I sold prescription eyeglass frames to eye doctors and optical shops in every state in America. The remote locations generated the best conversations. The folks in New York were always in a rush.
This was a great job and we were making sales and money. At 18 I was able to buy a brand new Toyota 4x4 truck and really use it.
I could hear Roger and Mr. Hodes as they walked across the warehouse to our room. We all could that day.
The door swung open and big smiles walked in the doors. Mr. Hodes gushed and beamed that we were doing such a great job.
Roger chimed in and actually gave us complements too. As
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Roger was singing our praises, Mr. Hodes held up a box of 7 hornrimmed-preppy multi-colored glasses. Mr. Hodes was smiling ear-to-ear as Roger said, "These glasses are named after Mr. Hodes's Daughter Amy. Guys… this is the Amy set."
Roger told us about the frames and he continued excitingly with, "we are going to pay you 2 bucks extra for every frame you sell plus your regular commission."
"Well! All righty!" said Lou.
Let the games begin!
As the door closed behind Roger and Mr. Hodes the three of us looked at each other and promptly removed any non-Amy sales materials from our desks. We went from selling 200 varieties of frames to one. We became an "Amy Army".
It was just after the 4th of July and we were excited.
Propped up on my desk, next to the mirror was a 7 pack of the Amy frames. Hindsight makes me think of Apple iMac colors, but the Amy was long before that.
It's my story, so I'll claim the first Amy sale. Within minutes of Roger and Mr. Hodes leaving our room we were writing business.
2 bucks a frame was a very significant commission, a spiff. We sold them in sets of 7 colors.
The Stanley files were full with leads. Each of us had over 300 "A" or "B" quality leads. We sold over 2,200 Amy frames in a month. We absolutely killed it.
We were so different that outside eyeglass salesmen. They were compelled to show the whole 200+ frame collection. As telemarketers, we had the choice so we sold only the Amy.
We felt like the Three Musketeers in the way our team work and how we would feed off each other's sale.
We heard Roger's shoes coming towards our office. The door opened and instead of the smiles we expected Mr. Hodes was angry and quipped, "How could you? How could you sell so many Amy Frames?
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Amy frames? We don't have that many." Is voice went from forceful to defeated in seconds.
Roger said some unimportant things.
The door closed and we looked in shock at each other. We sold ourselves out of a job and were on the street shortly thereafter.
Venture Business Survival depends on not selling more than you can deliver.
Unemployment is a state of mind. We picked up the phones and started dialing other eyeglass manufacturers. The three amigos got a new contract to represent and sell Shane & Michael
Eyeglasses by telephone. Our reputation at Hodes was known when we called in. They jumped at the chance to work with us.
This was exciting because it was my first airplane ride on business.
I was in Los Angeles and at 18 I was alert and in the game. Shane and Michael was up in San Francisco.
We settled into Lou's home and set up our SOHO to start calling optical shops. Lou made the point of repeating, Call the guy that can sell 1,000 for you. I latched on to that and cold called Dr. Yamamoto of Yamamoto Optical in Pomona, CA. All of my telemarketing skills were used in the three conversations needed.
One with the secretary, then his assistant and then Dr. Yamamoto.
Every cold call has a pregnant pause after initial introduction as a way to ask permission to continue. Politeness, firmness, a solid golden voice always asks "how are you today?" Take a breath, think about the call like you are talking to your favorite uncle.
A cold call is a weapon of business. It moves you into the playing field. This story is beyond the simple success of the cold call, but the future that has just become open because of the cold call. We are still in a tough battle for my favorite cold call. We have Radio and 9 out 10 at Fox. Blind John and we are thrilled with the
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rollercoaster of Amy, but it is Dr. Yamamoto that exceeds all expectations.
I was wearing the same suit that I had on at Shane and Michael in San Francisco, a hand-me-down from my grandfather. A suite much older than I was. Lou and I are driving my Toyota 4x4 pickup to Pomona to meet Dr. Yamamoto, about an hour drive from our Torrance location. The truck was aggressive red and was fun to drive.
Dr. Yamamoto's optical practice seem to take up half a block on a tree lined shopping street in Pomona. A well-lit space is a huge understatement. With all the walls lined in mirrors and thousands of eyeglass frames. Four very attractive optical assistants greeted us warmly and asked us to hang out a bit. we took the chance to see all the eyeglasses they had on display,
I still work with Lou some 30+ years later and we still challenge each other on tones and always fondly remember Dr. Yamamoto.
After a bit of waiting we got waived into Dr. Yamamoto's office.
My eyes take a moment to adjust as I settle into the plush red leather "smoking" chair in front of a huge cherry wood desk. The walls lined with legal volumes and the carpet was dark also. Dr. Yamamoto was in his throne in white frock and pencil pocket protector.
This was a moment.
Lou sat to my right and did the open. He then introduced me as boy wonder and I jump in to explain Shane & Michael. Dr. Yamamoto was cordial as I did my presentation.
As a primary goal of a salesman is to get the client to talk so we can listen for needs, I asked Dr. Yamamoto to tell us about his A1 Optical Coop buying group. This was a man who could sell more than 1,000 as A1 had 1,100 members at that time.
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His expression went from plain to animated immediately. It was a charged moment that was almost confusing as it started. I would learn later why, but at the time, at 18 in a borrowed suit with a Navy Seal Vietnam War vet and telemarketing savant Lou I was alert. Alert is not strong enough word, I was exhilarated.
Dr. Yamamoto smiled and shared is start-up experience for his Optical Buyers Coop. His tone was subdued with a tinge of great pride.
The optical market was controlled by the manufacturers and a historical distribution network with guys like Roger at Hodes Optical. The buyers were screwed. Dr. Yamamoto explained further that when he opened his second and third location he seized on the A1 Optical Coop idea and immediately garnered membership from his peers.
He was a cold caller! But the room went cold when Dr. Yamamoto said, "When I brought this to manufacturers they told me to fuck off."
Lou touched my arm and said, "Don't Move".
Time stopped. I heard my breathing, my heart beat. I froze.
Dr. Yamamoto got real animated as he continued to talk about the manufacturers. As he did, he reached his left arm over to his right said and the volume increased. He then lurched and screamed, NOW I CUT THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF," as he jumped up onto his desk and pulled out a samurai sword and swung across the fronts of our faces. All in one movement, like a Chinese acrobat, he sat back down to silence.
I wish I had a picture of the look on my face.
Lou broke the silence with, "We like you…" in a long and Southern drawl.
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So, that is by far my favorite cold-call. There have been many more, that's what a cold-caller does.
I cold called the VP of Coca-Cola Japan and sold him their first website. Did the same with Budweiser and the top 10 advertisers in the world.
Once you have no fear to pick up the phone all you have to do is have a gumption of product knowledge to get to the close.
Before you can start closing sales you have to open your business.
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Account, Resell License, etc.
Without a bank account, you are not in business. But, does that mean you must do that first when you start your company?
Yes. It takes a spell to get the paperwork to open a business bank account. In Japan it's near impossible to open a business bank account as a foreigner. After 911 the US also created many more requirements. But no matter, if you can't figure out how an open a bank account you should not be in venture business. Go home and blog about it instead.
I am nice and harsh in certain advice. Banking experiences have deteriorated from my youth. So. I'd like to condition the paragraph above that you can start your business without a bank account, but you won't be able to cash your first sales check until you do. That can create delivery issues as you might take long to open a bank account.
Why not just take checks in your name? Two reasons. One, and most importantly, is your clients will feel more comfortable paying to a company for a product or service. Two, you need to protect yourself too. Having a company allows you to separate personal from business.
When you open a bank account you will also start to get credit cards and credit lines. Be careful. The use of all and any credit has to be revolving and continuing in a business. You cannot build up balances and then just carry them forward. You have to have the discipline to recycle money thru your credit.
Because security at your bank differs on product you use, I think you should establish your debit card and then destroy them. Only use Credit Cards for outside spending transactions. Credit Cards have protections whereas a debit card can drain your bank account with no recourse. Do not carry a debit card with you.
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The one exception: accounting staff will want a debit card to be able to make deposits at the ATM. Just make sure they don't get used for purchases. Them scanning devices steal data and wreak havoc on your accounts.
Which bank? Any. I think closest to you is best. Wells Fargo and Chase are just tellers that are slowly getting automated out. No real banking relationships get made anymore. Sure they will sell you credit card products all day long. But to be a banker in support of your business? Just don't expect it.
First you have to decide what corporate structure that you want.
It can either be a C corp, an LLC or a partnership. I use www.corporate.com. They offer a variety of fancy services, but I think those can wait until you know if your business venture is worthy of survival.
For California entrepreneurs, this is very important. You can set up your new corporation in Nevada or Delaware for future "tax" purposes, but you must register in California as a foreign company and pay an annual minimum tax of $800. That gets paid to the BOE, or the Board of Equalization.
The BOE are the bastards of government and in no way should you consider fucking with them. The BOE are also the folks that will give you a Resell license. This is something you should get to allow for better negotiation when you want to set up vendor relationships.
The key point to avoid in your Resell license is to not overestimate your estimated sales. If you over estimate you must pay taxes on that estimate. Let your company's success determine your payments to BOE. Optimistic protections belong in the garbage can.
So, pick any bank. A banking relationship does not matter for your small business. Well Fargo or Chase, etc simply don't give a damn. There is no romantic client/banker relationship, so don't
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bother. Your goal with banking is simply to cash checks.
As for other administrative tasks, you'll need a phone carrier. I recommend www.vonage.com. Vonage has a feature called - simultaneous dial, where your phone will ring on up to five different numbers at the same time. I particularly like this system to ring a set of numbers and anyone can answer. It allows us to have a human answer our phone. Even if the number on the phone looks like a waste of a phone call, we still answer the phone.
Money dials in.
Website are a key to business survival and have a decidcated chapter in the book. Also Client Management Systems are built in the back-office to run your entire operations.
Details about both are included in this book.
I also include a party trick of being about to register a domain name in real time and go live with content in 5 minutes.
Remember, I think a domain name is the perfect form of intellectual property.
For example. SolarHotTub.com – I do not particularly worry about others making a competing Solar Hot Tub kit. Branding is everything in protection and a great domain is a great brand.
The website and CRM chapters are so boring. Please skip them.
They really are only here as a resource. When servers break, the code written in these chapters will help recover and get your website up and running. Dreadful to read now but a damn diamond of code when you need it.
Again, The Venture Business Manual is a reference guide that does require your participation. I know my copy is dog-eared and all the fill-in-the-blank areas are full. My copy is a corporate treasure.
My copy will be duplicated in the safety deposit box so I can have one copy handy and one in a safe place for me or next of kin.
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"If you must spell it on the phone it is a loser name"
Domain Name. I own this site: www.JPRS.com and I hope you use it to get your domains. The most important thing about a domain name is that you do not have to spell it when you say it on the phone. The same goes for your choice of email. You can also use www.godaddy.com or the many other domain and website providers.
The cold caller must be efficient in communication. For example, I used to use Sales@ABCsolar.com and had to spell it out for folks. I switched to Solar@ABCsolar.com and that simple switch made it fluid.
Get a book on HTML - How to Make Love (oops, I mean Hypertext Markup Language). Learn how to make and edit your own website. A venture man that must rely on others for basics is stuck and often held hostage by vendors.
A business name should NEVER have your last name in it. You can never hire a replacement to take over your family name that won't feel just a bit smaller because of it. It was a simple piece advice from Terry Matthews, a mentor of my who started and ran banks.
Terry also drilled into me the phrase of "Never Walk Away From Equity." This is in capitals to strike at its importance. You will be tested on your venture business journey. Your equity is always at stake and you need to know that equity is a part of you. Your equity is your "Line in the Sand."
I know it sounds counter intuitive, but others will ask you to give up equity for so many reason. If equity was a 100-dollar bill would you just pull it out of your pocket and give it away? No. You would not.
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I swear that Terry gets on my shoulder when this decision point happens. Never walk away from equity. No matter what. Not even in death, as I outline in your drafting of your Shareholders Agreement.
Naming your business has cultural implications.
In Japan I did not learn the punch line until after being in business for years. It only takes one chirp to create a sticky meme.
My company name was Internet Access Center KK. (IAC). The Japanese staff would answer the as, "aye ya shee". Which means "strange or fishy". It did bum me out when I learned the meaning.
Cultural misunderstandings are forgiven in Japan with bastardized English, but they can be a funny lesson.
I ordered the editor of Tokyo Journal Magazine to put some Japanese on the cover as it might help newsstand sales. Tokyo Journal was the largest English language magazine in Japan in 1996.
The team complied and changed our tagline of "Your City Magazine" to Japanese katakana. Katakana is used to phonetically pronounce foreign words. The new Japanese tagline read: Your Shitty Magazine.
Ooops. I ran downstairs and looked at the magazine team and said, "You got me, but don't do it again."
So, what is your business name?
As you can see above, knowing how your name is defined in a local language is really important. If you think you are going global then pick those few outside markets and test your name ideas against local norms.
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In Japanese one way to say the number 4 is equivalent to "death".
So, to me it is interesting that Food, Shelter and Appropriate Attire are featured in this Chapter 4. Pay attention! This chapter can save your life and thereby the chance of your Venture Business Survival.
Heavy huh? You will make bad decisions worse when you are out of food and shelter.
If your business is to survive you must survive. In addition, you must survive with a big smile on your face. In no world does an entrepreneur that looks hungry succeed. You must look and act like each and every sale does not matter.
Put your hand in your pockets and pull them out. If they are empty they are called "Rabbit ears." You will learn many ways to express that lack of coin in your pocket. Bupkiss. It goes on and on.
I can truthfully say that I had less than 100 yen to my name and it was in my pocket when I signed a joint venture agreement with NTT - the largest company in the world at the time. I was so broke that we had to walk from our offices to the NTT building as we did not have enough for train or taxi fare.
Countless times I could not count on having any money to keep going. In reality, no sane person would welcome Rabbit Ears as a sign of courage. It was, but it did indeed take its toll. But, in truth, the victories tasted so much better.
Don't be embarrassed with parents and in-laws when they send you food. Welcome it. A full belly means your business survives.
Tomoko's mom used to send us bags of rice. Add some cabbage and you got life.
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I got lucky to say the very least. Life has played a magical mystery tour with my very existence. Even writing this book is a great pleasure. The simple nature of expression allows me to formulate plans for my own ventures and next steps.
At the moment, my belly is full, my wife loves me and my kids are the funniest humans I know. Now I can express things that used to scare me. Ready?
Playing businessman seems to be the role of my early years. Wet behind the ears, and some really old hand-me-down suits was my charm. The suits were two inches too short and were a 1940's cut that belonged to my grandfather. If movie screen writers saw my youth they would have claimed me for their Napoleon Dynamite character.
In 1992 my life changed. My son was born with a bilateral-cleft palette. This is physical deformity that manifests in three upper lips and a hole in the roof of the mouth. In Japanese they literally called it "Three Lips". The drama was accentuated when the doctor left the delivery room and asked grandma what to do. My heart sank.
Life affirms reasons for being in ways that are not understood, but still should not be overlooked. By the time of my son's birth I was deep into the information business the internet. I asked a business partner for information about cleft-palettes and he gave me a floppy disk with 1000 pages of medical journal text about it.
My greenscreen laptop was loaded with Metamorph natural language search and retrieval software. It was this blessed experience that the universe held my hand and said everything was going to be all right. The sense of power of divine intervention pervades my body now as my eyes well up and my body shivers.
Within moments, Metamorph opened the process of cleft-palette
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repair. I recognized one particular method, the Onizuka Method, that I was terrified of. Our first surgeon visit I brought my laptop and told the Japanese doctor that I did not approve of the Onizuka Method.
The doctor was shocked. First by even being spoken to and second that I knew so much about cleft palettes. The mystery was Professor Onizuka was our doctor's teacher! And he agreed that he did not and would not be using the Onizuka Method. I was relieved and awaited Brad Jr.'s first surgery in March 1993.
The doctor said it would be one week in the hospital for Brad Jr. and Tomoko. Jay, and the rest of the team, gave me the week off to take care of this. I dropped them off at the hospital, and when I arrived at home, I decided to clean. I needed to fill my time busy while I thought and prayed about my son.
I took all my suits, shirts and ties to the laundromat on the first day. The clerk said come back Thursday. The house was looking great and I was in good spirits with daily visits to hospital. I knew they'd be back soon!
"Do you speak Japanese," asked the clerk at the Daily Yamazaki convenience store at the end of my block in Koganehara, Matsudo, Chiba.
"Yes! (Hai)," I said incredulously. I'd been coming to this store for years and grunting good Japanglish for years!
Then she went on to say, "The laundromat burned down, and all of your suits went with it too. Can you please give us value as insurance will pay."
Just a few weeks later I find myself buying 4 tailor made suits from Ricky Sarani in Tokyo. Ricky dressed the town. Oh boy, I went from poor venture business man to cuff links!
Jay, my partner, joked that it was hard to burn down the laundromat, but he loved the new suits!
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I learned that dress in Tokyo, at that time, made the difference between taking my business out of the garage and not making it at all. The Ricky Sarani suits leveled me up and it was like getting dressed up by others and taught diction.
In 2012 I remember also that suits played a role in being too stuffy.
Being in the solar business, suits became lost. I took ABC Solar to Japan to pursue the 50 cents per kWh Feed-in-Tariff that created a 20 year "Solar Bond". Being big money I took the step to suit up again.
On a visit to Hedge Fund money in Tokyo I was in new tailored threads. The money guy could not believe I was in a suit. To my great surprise he actually grabbed my suit by the arm and rubbed the cloth between his fingers. He then commented that it was nice material.
Transportation is a big expense for small business. Any mode of transportation is used to place you in each business situation.
Skateboards? "Almost made them respectable," screamed Joe Jackson on his 1980 hit. Suits, briefcases and skateboards were traded for the two-wheeled razers to get around Tokyo quicker. In my late 20's and geeking out was the bomb. It also saved money.
A penny saved is food in your belly.
In Tokyo I attained rock-star status with our internet company and the many speeches I gave. Most speeches just came with lunch, but sometimes I got paid too. You must eat, sleep and keep your phone and internet connections working. As long as you're connected, you can still win.
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Where does the drive come from?
This question came after reading the outline of this book. It does require a much deeper understanding of who Brad Bartz is and the power of success and failure in venture business. That is an easy explanation. It’s like sex. Sex is great. So … venture business is great?
I just don’t buy that while I am writing it.
Mom has a big part of the drive. From an early age our family went to art shows and watched mom gain patrons. She did not sell the art but would answer question about it. She made herself open and available for clients to appreciate her art without pressure.
She was also not shy in closing the sale.
The magic was watching year after year as Diane cultivated her acre of diamonds of her art clients. The magic of that rubbed off on me more profoundly than my siblings, as far as the sales bug goes. All five of us kids have exploited generously our talents and still are amazed by each other’s skill sets.
That provides the foundation for learning the circle of business.
Then the reward of goal achievement took me from just a simple 7-year-old to a creative businessman.
Papa provided a great home and toys, but if you wanted anything outside of the box you had to buy it yourself. At 7 I asked for a pony which cost $150 bucks. Dad said if you can give me half the money, I’ll buy the pony.
Two weeks later my first enterprise paid off and I remember how proud I felt when I handed pops 75 bucks. His look was priceless.
In such a short time I convinced Billy to round up returnable bottles from the neighbors and exchange for cash.
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A generous plethora of business ventures were pursued up until my first job at 14 years old selling advertising for a local radio station. Including selling candy at the baseball field and even pet rocks.
You are benefitting from some of the training I receive from DJ and owner Frank Jolley way back in 1980. Gary Gaudet and Lou Blanchard also delivered sales training that still impacts my dayto-day. Professor Gordon Patzer and Dr. Fred Kiesner from Loyola Marymount University were actively involved in my business while I was at college.
Patzer was on my board of directors and Dr. Keisner’s senior class did a case study on my business. It was, Telemarketing Visions Institute, Inc. A 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.
Yes, at 19 years old a university was doing a case study on my business. Additional case studies on my ventures were taught at Keio University in Japan and Georgia at Auburn. Those are the ones I know about. I also know former staff wrote about my business and their part in it for their MBA papers.
Entrepreneurs seek advice. The nature of business is about providing a faster than current solution. Solution providers study and get better at it than their clients. I want to say better than their competitors, but competitors deserve much more credit than we like to give.
Still, what makes me tick? I have been in the shower singing about this and still no luck. I walk about and think, gee how is it that I can get told no 99 times to the 1 yes and keep smiling?
I know that I am an actor. For the 3 minutes on the phone or the hour in person, I am on stage and in full bloom. When it’s called for. Really, these days I will ask the client what kind of sales experience do that want?
1. The Librarian?
2. The Closer?
3. Coffee and Cookies?
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Reader, please do me a favor. Pick up a pen in your right hand.
Hold on to it for a few minutes. You can fiddle with it and even write a happy face right here ( ). Otherwise, just hold it.
Now, the story of salesmanship to the professional client is to show off old-school sales tricks of the trade with a chuckle and a smile.
Don’t worry. I have not forgotten about the pen you are holding in your right hand. You have had it long enough in that hand that the pen is actually getting warm. Can you feel it?
The pen for a salesman is a very powerful tool.
You can drop the pen now.
Look up and say, “just sign right there.” Smile and laugh out loud. Or, drop the pen and don’t say a word. The roleplaying client will pick up the pen. It is a sign that they are ready to be closed. They won’t use the pen until instructed. But, once they pick it up, you need to close.
I use the pen for preparation too. I put it in my mouth sideways and bite on it. I then run thru some speaking and singing exercises.
In particular I forcefully enunciate words which is hard as the tip of my tongue hits the pen. This is a wake up tongue exercise that is magic.
Yes, I am taught in the warfare of sales. That is why I look at the Art of War by Sun Tzu to be so important to imagine. My feet are grounded in truth and creativity. My mastery of sales is used for good.
It is my sincere hope that you as the reader will be careful with the sales methods I outline. I hope you can master them, but only to the point of you being a great salesman. Not a dumb ass cheater with circular closes and life-insurance death will happen if you don’t buy closes. Yuck.
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I am still searching for the simple way to express that I keep making new ventures and keep refining ones I have for the pure sake of creativity. The epiphany moment that then gets processed by all the tools described in this book. That is what I am into.
My wife enjoys the new ideas and encourages them. That is how lucky I am!
Now, one question. Is the pen still in your hand?
Are you reaching for it now?
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Two key points:
1. Your lawyer will charge you in six-minute segments
2. Your lawyer should invest in your company
The first time you hire a lawyer you will be nervous and excited.
It feels like you are a big boy now. Now pull out your checkbook and get ready for your most important lesson. At $350 an hour your lawyer can not be your friend. But you can learn a lot about a person in 6-minute segments.
Resist the temptation to call or meet your lawyer. Do it in writing.
Keep it short. Carefully consider every request you make. Why?
Because big lawyer bills will kick your ass.
Use of Lawyers in company setup, charters and contracts Ok, I will relent here. I will argue that you should only be spending actual money on your venture if you land a client.
Particularly if this is your first business. The startup is meant to find its way, the path to what your clients are willing to pay for.
https://www.incorporate.com/ takes care of the initial steps of setting up a corporation or LLC.
I have narrowed it down to three instances when you should use an attorney in the founding of a venture business.
1. Shareholders agreement
2. Major contract template for product or service we sell
3. Any investment transaction document
Use of Lawyers in fights
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Always look for resources before you hire an attorney. If you are in business, you must submit to negotiations to navigate daily life.
Being pushed to hire an attorney is a last resort. Always.
But, if you are going to get in a fight, be a bastard and a stone-cold bitch.
I sincerely believe that court is the place where you can get a decision made. At least that is what I am conditioned to believe.
However, most disputes get settled at the last hour and the judge gets a day off. The system seems designed to allow judges to avoid making decisions.
Brinksmanship is an underrated art form. The idea that you will stand your position is a key to sales success. As simple as not talking after asking a question to contract negotiations, applying poker play to business can be considered brinksmanship.
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Unless your business is, well, non-existent, you must deal with rules, regulations, laws, compliance, certificates, licenses and much more.
These come at you again and again, so you must plan to deal with these adversaries. Only sometimes do governments behave correctly and are partners, not adversaries. When you find these pockets of local cooperation, invest in those markets.
A new venture is like your child. You are emotionally involved in your first businesses. In fact, you get emotionally involved in every business. The longer you have one the more shapes it takes.
As leaders, the evolving process is what we push.
Be prepared when that fight with regulation, rules and law lands on your desk. Be aware of the next moments of thought. Slow down for a moment, for when you decide to fight back you must be prepared and committed. A real line in the sand must be drawn and you must stick to it. There can be no compromise on your position. None. You are making a conscience choice to beat your head against the wall.
It can be embarrassing to take up the fight. Denial is the first emotion that will settle in. You'll think: "Really? They won't approve it because of what?" For example, my client was denied Permission To Operate for a Solar PV with Advanced Storage System because it was over 10KW and they could not tell the difference between solar production and battery discharge. Over 6 months, three lawsuits, two petitions and a website at www.solarrightsact.com to fight.
Today I will file a Motion for Expedited Hearing and a Motion for Discovery. I'm not embarrassed any more, I smell victory and a path to make my business easier in the future.
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Denial rapidly turns into anger. This is the emotion that fuels your first steps in advocacy. It is important to harbor this emotion at home, but once you are on "stage" you must contain yourself and force yourself to speak slowly and "rationally", even if the situation doesn't seem rational at all.
This stage can be an emotional rollercoaster. In most cases you must work day-in and day-out with the people you are arguing against, and it puts one's decorum on display.
I am going to put a (BBT) mark on the sentences below that describe a Brad Bartz Tool of advocacy. The goal in this writing exercise is to be able to show the "Process of Advocacy" and the overlapping use of tactics and methods. I did not invent the tools, I just have identified process steps that get used again and again.
Ready? This example might not be what you expect.
The Last Free American is a moniker that I claim and seem to have evidence to backup. It is not that I want to break the law, but my actions in business have created rules behind me. Most were logical, like not being able to put paper flyers on car windshields in shopping center parking lots. Some were just vendettas by authorities for my success. That is why I scream at the top of my lungs that I will never walk away from equity. See www.JPRS.com.
My children are the world to me. My businesses are nifty and such, but my kids are an amazing gift. My son Bradley Jr. was born with a bi-lateral cleft palette and suffers from slow learning.
He is loving man, 25 years old now. My daughter Marie is just 2 years younger, turning 23 today, January 26, 2018.
In 1999 my daughter was denied entry into Bradley Jr.'s
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elementary school. She was shipped to a different elementary school. Bradley Jr.s school was Cornerstone, a parent participation school in the Palos Verdes Unified School District. Bradley Jr. was "placed" in Cornerstone's special day class for disabled students.
The grand moms at Cornerstone rallied to deny Marie entry into Cornerstone claiming that she does not get sibling status because Bradley Jr. was not really a student at Cornerstone. Years later the same militant moms tried to get all disabled kids removed from Cornerstone and to send them to a different school. So as to make room for more ... abled kids. Fuck me. I stopped those shenanigans too.
To say that I was disgusted is just too shallow of a word.
Institutional discrimination. I quickly started to lobby for my children to be together and no response was had. Then I wrote an impassioned letter in September 2000 to the school board. Again, no response, silence.
I told Tomoko, my wife, that I must spend full time hours to fix this. She took over making money for the household. I turned my attention to advocacy and got in deep.
I studied every law, rule and regulation that surround the space of special education in California and its Federal companion laws.
The Brown Act came to my rescue. The Brown Act governs how public meetings must be run. I attended every school board meeting once the discrimination at Cornerstone reared its head. I took notes. Notes on process that lead me to see the meeting behavior of the Palos Verdes Unified School District (PVPUSD) out of compliance with the Brown Act.
The Brown Act section I gravitated towards was the ability of board members to chat about subjects during a school board
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meeting if that subject is not under vote that meeting. The PVPUSD superintendent had written into and said verbally that board members could not talk except for subjects that are on the agenda.
On December 8, 2000, my birthday, I went to the PVPUSD school board meeting and read a letter stating that their meeting practices were in violation of the Brown Act. I spent no time talking about my children, so my voice was strong and in command.
12 hours later I got a fax and a phone call saying that my children could go to the same elementary school, Cornerstone. They said, "oh Mr. Bartz we did know you wanted you kids to be together."
Frankly, nothing is worse than an entrenched bureaucracy that defends what is humanly-observable, insane rules.
A few years later the powers at the PVPUSD informed our 3rd grade special needs parents that they are going to moving the entire Special Needs class to another school.
The showdown was a 45-minute meeting. All special needs parents were present and, having agreed beforehand, stated, "we agree only if the entire 3rd grade class is moving to a new school.
By this, we mean both the regular and special education 3rd grade classes. We will not move otherwise. Full stop."
The administration staff first put on a smile when I said "we agree . . .", but then their faces went blanche as we demanded the regular 3rd grade class move with our kids. As parents guiding education for our special needs kids, we knew that regular kid interaction, or "mainstreaming", is vital for success for the child.
Both populations benefit from mainstreaming.
The debate went on for a bit, but we were clear that we will file a Federal 504 discrimination lawsuit and pursue individual and
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group action for damages. The PVPUSD staff left the room. Our special needs parents smiled and ate cookies.
The PVPUSD director of special education came back and conceded to our victory and our kids stayed and contributed greatly to Cornerstone.
Our advocacy had a clear purpose, a foundation in law, and a no compromise position.
BBT1 - 1st Brad Bartz Tool of Advocacy is how the government official does their job, not the specific issue of your client. To understand the playing field of Special Education and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings I volunteered for many families with special needs as an IEP advocate. With every meeting I became more acutely aware of the ruleset that governs my opponents.
In every advocacy fight, the BBT1 rule of Compliance Box applies. This means to put your opponent in their rule box and then visualize ways you can make them violate those rules. If they are late by one day, file a compliance complaint. In a fight, jurisdictional questions will be the most tedious to deal with. They are also ones that can derail your entire fight.
The Cheatham Solar Paradox
A pisser in process is when a counter person gives a demand that cannot be met. Unobtanium. In this case the 1st master-metered apartment building in the City of Los Angeles tried to get a permit for a solar grid-tie system . A Solar Photovoltaic System generates electricity from solar panels and is connected to a home electrical system and thereby connects to the local utility grid.
This allows extra solar production to be fed to the utility grid.
Reasons for abuse of process by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) is they did not believe building owners deserved a solar rebate. Staff, pretending to be elected
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leaders, are the most dangerous thing to our democracy.
Pay attention to what they (cities/governments) ask you to sign.
Los Angeles county had a doozy that I outright said no to. To pull a solar permit they required me to sign an affidavit saying that I attest that I know I am installing solar on a permitted building.
Further, if found out later the building is not permitted I would have to pay to take off the solar under the Penalty of Perjury.
In no universe can I attest for another person. It is an illogical request from a lazy bureaucracy.
I refused and arranged a meeting with the powers at be.
At the meeting one of the "leaders" of the LA County Building and Safety said, "don't worry about the perjury line."
I was incredulous and said so. I said in no uncertain terms I would not sign for another person with the penalty of perjury hanging over my head. Never.
Then the chap said, "but other solar companies sign it."
I said, that is them. I am here for the long term. I then followed with AB2188, the California Solar Permit Streamlining Act, which stated that their request is a violation of law and I will file in court.
Rooms get testy at this point.
Then the leader suggested I could take care of this required task at the local county office and would not have sign. BBT: know the law, have your line in the sand ready and do not blink.
At a California Solar Industry Association meeting in December 2017 I mentioned to others that they do not need to sign, and a sigh of relief was heard. Learning that my efforts have made it easier for the next guy is music to my ears.
"This is how we do it", was a phrase from a song in my youth.
Also the refrain I hear from those in authority when a state law
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overrides them. Again with new law AB2188 in my hand I played a year long battle with the City of Manhattan Beach in regards to new rules they did not like. Namely, only one inspection for a solar energy system.
I wrote to them as follows:
Hi David,
I wasn't aware of this, but the City of Manhattan Beach website says you are mayor.
I have been having a very tough time permitting solar projects in MB.
The new law of AB2188 has not been well received by city staff. AB2188 has reduced power of the local building officials and has created a bad riff between my firm and the city office.
The current issue is:
AB2188 states:
65850.5.(i) A city, county, or city and county shall not condition approval for any solar energy system permit on the approval of a solar energy system by an association, as that term is defined in Section 4080 of the Civil Code.
Can you clarify the city's position?
AB2188 keeps the Homeowners Association (HOA) jurisdiction between the owner and the HOA.
I am writing you because I am about to escalate this to the courts and retain my lawyer. Timing is critical for my clients as SCE is changing to Net-Metering 2.0 any day now.
Once I found out that you were the mayor, I calmed down and am taking the effort to write you for support.
Please let me know if you need additional information.
Thanks,
Bradley Bartz
ABC Solar Inc
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Our issues were fixed by the end of the business day. My attorney was impressed. I knew this was only one step in changing the staff and inspectors to respect state law.
But then the same City of Manhattan Beach turned the fire access layout rules upside down! The meeting to announce their new regime was held in the city council chambers - the round room with the power seats in the middle.
Only lasting a year, these new rules were opposite of the rest of the state. The Fire Marshal Tim took the stage and showed fire rescue movies with guys falling through roofs engulfed in flame.
One after another.
When he was done I raised my hand and held up a picture of a black lung and said, "this is what I am fighting against."
Tim grinned and scoffed and said, "I knew someone would do that."
When the City of Lancaster California fired SCE and set up their own utility under new Consumer Choice Aggregation laws (CCA).
SCE deserved to be let go and I just hope my episode helped in that process.
When you fight for your clients, sometimes, if not all the times, you have think out of the box to surround your opponent. You always have to remember that your client did not break the law by going solar (or buying your product/service).
This case was about being denied Permission to Operate (PTO) from Southern California Edison (SCE) for a 36-panel solar grid tie system. SCE found the system was too large by 6 solar panels.
SCE told the client they would not get their rebate and would not be allowed to connect to the grid unless they removed 6 panels.
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I gave the client the option for me to remove the 6 suspect solar panels and refund the pro-rata amount, or I would fight the SCE.
He said, "Go get them".
Words were exchanged with SCE to no avail.
I then called the mayor of the City of Lancaster and asked staff for a copy of the contract between SCE and the city. They were happy to oblige.
By fax the screeching sound brought magic to my eyes. The contract for utilities for the City of Lancaster was with Southern Company, a distant past bankrupt firm. There was no pass-on to a new entity clause.
I informed both SCE and the city of Lancaster of my findings and that a new contract must replace the current agreement as found.
12 hours later from SCE, "Oh Mr. Bartz, we did not realize your client needed 36 panels. You are ok to keep the system as is." Push the beast from every angle. If they waste your time, and thereby jeopardize your client relationships, then learn to waste 10x more of their time. In the process, learn and document each step.
But, sometimes the authorities are just run amok and need your compliance no matter how you feel. Up to a point.
The City of Glendora takes the cake as bad places to do business, right behind the almighty city of Santa Monica. In our case the client installed a brilliant hybrid solar grid-tie and solar well pumping system at his 1-square-mile estate on the top the Bluebird way.
The installation presented itself and we designed an array over two 20,000-gallon water tanks that had an open ceiling. A total of 44 Mitsubishi solar panels with 36 to the grid and 8 to a dual-power
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solar well pump were installed. The solar pump moved water from a 600' deep well thru 1200' feet of line to fill the tanks.
We completed the work and it was time for inspection. But the inspector fails us as he says we need to install a sprinkler system.
A what!? Over an open patio?
I was so pissed I could not see straight. I drove down to the city and the bigger than me city official said that is what is required.
Shit.
I regrouped. And called a friend at a sprinkler company and he said an automatic sprinkler system will not work in an open patio.
Not enough heat is generated to trigger the system.
These magical phone calls drive purpose.
The next day I went to the city of Glendora Fire Department and saw a fire planner. I explained, and he pulled out a giant stamp that said no fire mediation required. He dipped it on the red ink pad a few times and slammed it onto my plans with a smile and signed it.
I was thrilled.
I went back to the city of Glendora and saw the huge building official who told me, "no one overrides me. You must install sprinklers."
Fuck me! I then told him that it would be dangerous to install PVC piping as the manufacturer of the automatic sprinkler system said it would not trigger. So at least he let me install galvanized steel pipe.
The next job in the City of Glendora was also hassled on different grounds. This time I called the mayor and said I will file a lawsuit that day. She called back in 30 minutes and released my clients permit.
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I made the tall asshole stand down.
The Green Lantern: Advocacy can be a kick in the pants!
In Hermosa Beach, California the city was a bitch to work with. The first nitpicking issue was when they asked me to move the words "PLOT PLAN" to a different part of the same page. When I returned my new plans, I had a new page calculating the carbon, gas and time expensed for moving the words. Many time consuming issues
happened for solar in Hermosa Beach.
Frustrating.
I opened an ABC Solar store on Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach. It was our second store about 10 miles from our Headquarters in Torrance, California. My patron clients were thrilled and arranged a big opening party with all the local politicians and even Congresswoman Jan Harman to cut the "Green Ribbon".
I wrote a press release calling Hermosa Beach my Green Lighthouse.
I gushed on and on about how great the city of Hermosa Beach was and that I could get solar permits over the counter! The local papers ran the story on our opening using my Green Lighthouse tagline for the city.
During the opening ceremony the mayor of Hermosa Beach said to me, "nicely played," in reference to the article.
That made my day.
From then on Hermosa beach became an acceptable place to pull solar permits.
We have not even got thru half the list for this chapter! This is next:
Cirque du Solar
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Removed Planning in Torrance
Loopholes can be nooses
PV with ASS
Digging Holes with LA County
Black Vs. Blue
LADBS - Art comes to the rescue
Don't pay me? Bullshit on that
Solar Rights Act
Do a 360 and don't forget
Three Conversations that still haunt me
Risa to Economics Professor
The Last Free American Board Game
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power does not get a pass in its abuse of solar and its impediments to progress. But, my kudos to the new OTC permit system from the City of Los Angeles. On the Couch! Awesome job guys.
Cirque du Solar was actually a residential solar grid tie system for the owner of Cirque du Soleil at one of his homes in Beverly Hills, California.
Another fine system that was a tough build. The requirement was to not be able to see the solar panels from the pool area but fit the max number of panels. We installed 50 Sunpower panels to 50 Enphase Microinverters.
Then the inspector said nope and failed us because the microinverters used power before the meter to provide monitoring for each solar panel.
It took a year. I filed a Temporary Restraining Order against LADWP that was rejected but got their attention. The system was finally approved and connected as-built.
It is frustrating, but the unrelenting nature of Brad Bartz and ABC Solar is the essence of Venture Business Survival.
Learn how to use compliance as a two-way street.
I had a black t-shirt made. It said:
I AM THE SQUEAKY WHEEL
In big white letters. I'd where a sports coat over the protest shirt and start the permit process. If it goes south, I take off the coat at the counter staff see my shirt. Usually, a stutter and then approval. Squeeeeeeeeeeek!
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Dear Readers, Please skip this chapter and the next one. Both are specifically meant for my kin. I know it will lose you. But in no world is a Wordpress or Squarespace website acceptable. Just accept my advice that you do need to know more about websites as a business owner than you want to.
If you skip this, then again, I think you should stay in the cubicle.
I personally know that I will refer to these two chapters for key code snippets I can use again and again. Again, I apologize for these chapters as most folks will just use Facebook and call it a day.
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Website Basics:
(Fill out and show to successors who have access to your library.)
Domain name.
JPRS.com - bottom left link - to get a domain name (or other).
#1 rule for a domain name. You can say it once on the telephone
and not have to spell it.
Username _____________________________
Password ______________________________
Server to host website (or use what you like!) I like more control.
http://www.softlayer.com/
Control Panel
Username ___________________________
Password______________Root ___________
IP Address ____________________________
Website to Access Name _________________
Command Line to Server 1
Username_____________________________
Password______________Root ___________
IP Address ____________________________
Server Name __________________________
Command Line to Server 2
Username_____________________________
Password______________Root ___________
IP Address ____________________________
Server Name __________________________
Command Line to Server 3
Username_____________________________
IP Address ____________________________
Server Name __________________________
Command Line to Server 4
Username ____________________________
Password______________Root ___________
IP Address ____________________________
Server Name __________________________
What do you do with a server once you have it?
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Set up basic tasks
Nameserver - Bind - on each server one as master - this runs DNS which tells the world which server to find a domain name. A domain to IP address table.
Webserver - Apache - this runs your basic websites that are "Flat File" html. Set up to run many domain names on one server. (I like servers because it's a fixed cost to run as many domain names as I want.)
Email Server - Netwinsite.com - without a doubt a robust and easy to setup email server that can handle multiple domains and has white-list capabilities.
Database Server - Oracle Application Express
The Venture Business Manual is going to be very specific about what you need to have set up to be able to buy a new domain name and have it live on the web in 5 minutes or less.
Start with one server and repeat.
Go to www.softlayer.com and order a virtual server of a cheap variety. You can upgrade memory, storage and cores later. Write down your account information in The Venture Business Manual.
You need a few tools on your PC or Mac to access the server.
Putty - this is a secure telnet program that allows you to have command line access to your server
WinSCP - this is a secure FTP program that allows you to upload and download files to your server.
Homesite - a web html editor. Other editors ok, even Notepad.
The Venture Business Guide teaches access to natural html.
Again, once you set this up you will be able to control this part of your business and never be held hostage.
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