Entrepreneur's Table

  What the dickens is ideation? You may have done some before breakfast. From scribbles on junk mail to lively conversations around a whiteboard, ideas grow when we give them attention, ask questions, and make room for unexpected connections. I’m exploring the value of unfinished thoughts, the importance of hearing every voice, and the possibilities of storytelling. How do you get an idea out where you can see it—and give it room to grow? Read here: https://medium.com/@tomsims/what-the-dickens-is-ideation-1b1cbd591bcd?sk=90ce8c214315d8a31ef690ff21076315 #Ideation #Creativity #Leadership #Facilitation #CreativeThinking #TomSims

  Are You Ready for an LLC? “Do I need an LLC?” is one of the questions I hear most frequently from entrepreneurs. My answer is usually: “I cannot give you a definitive answer—but I can ask you some questions that will help you make a better-informed decision.” Before filing, ask what you expect those three initials to accomplish. Are you seeking liability protection, tax advantages, clearer ownership, or separation between different business activities? Will an LLC actually provide those benefits under your circumstances? And is this the right time to form one? In this conversational talk-through, we consider: Why your business plan should come before the paperwork What an LLC may—and may not—protect Why an LLC does not automatically create a tax advantage How timing and state requirements affect the decision Questions businesses with multiple owners should address Why an LLC is not automatically a nonprofit Which questions belong with an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or insuranc...

  Can a leader become too polished? Professionalism matters. Preparation matters. Excellence matters. But leadership also requires something that cannot be manufactured by a perfectly polished presentation: **A recognizable human being.** In this episode of **The View from My Window on the World Podcast**, I reflect on authenticity, vulnerability, approachability, and the relationship between the leader and the people being led. Do the people on our teams know more than our mission statement? Do they understand what drives us, what we value, why the mission matters to us, and something of the person behind the leadership? And perhaps an even more challenging question: **Would members of your team be uncomfortable if you unexpectedly walked into a serious conversation in which they were honestly discussing your leadership?** Authentic leadership does not mean indiscriminate disclosure or abandoning appropriate boundaries. It means developing enough congruence between our stated valu...

 When we say, “I can’t take it anymore,” we may really mean, “I’m tired. I need help, grace, courage, or a new way to continue.” In this short companion video to “It’s All in the Squeeze,” an almost-empty tube of Fixodent becomes an unexpected lesson about perseverance, aging, adapting to diminished capacities, and treating life as a stewardship. The tube may feel almost empty—but there may still be love, wisdom, purpose, and service left to give. Read the full Medium article: https://medium.com/@tomsims/its-all-in-the-squeeze-3270b5a9f755?sk=5e592dd7ba83232ad7d7fab988a82c3e More from Tom Sims: https://linktr.ee/tomsims #ItsAllInTheSqueeze #Resilience #Stewardship #Perseverance #AgingWithPurpose #LifeLessons #KeepGoing #Endurance #PurposefulLiving #Encouragement #OneDayMore #TomSims

  

  What does your success scorecard measure? Income, sales, reach, marketing effectiveness, and completed goals are important—but they do not tell the whole story. In this video, we talk through a broader success scorecard that also considers: • Courage • Service • Perseverance • Contribution • Growth • Preparation • Integrity These qualities can be difficult to quantify, but they often explain how visible results are produced—and why future results may still be developing beneath the surface. As you watch, give yourself a score from 1 to 5 in each area. Don’t stop with the number. Ask: 1. What evidence supports my score? 2. What does this reveal about my progress? 3. What have I learned? 4. What is my next faithful step? When you finish, identify: • One measurable win • One less-visible win • One area needing attention • One faithful next step The score is not the conclusion. It is the beginning of a useful conversation. Don’t measure only the medal. Measure what it took to make th...

What does your success scorecard measure? Income, sales, reach, marketing effectiveness, and completed goals are important—but they do not tell the whole story. In this video, we talk through a broader success scorecard that also considers: • Courage • Service • Perseverance • Contribution • Growth • Preparation • Integrity These qualities can be difficult to quantify, but they often explain how visible results are produced—and why future results may still be developing beneath the surface. As you watch, give yourself a score from 1 to 5 in each area. Don’t stop with the number. Ask: 1. What evidence supports my score? 2. What does this reveal about my progress? 3. What have I learned? 4. What is my next faithful step? When you finish, identify: • One measurable win • One less-visible win • One area needing attention • One faithful next step The score is not the conclusion. It is the beginning of a useful conversation. Don’t measure only the medal. Measure what it took to make the atte...

  Leadership is not merely about making a plan and sticking to it. Sometimes remaining faithful to the purpose requires departing from the strategy. In this edition of Leaning Leadership Ladder, I reflect on risk, failure, responsibility, and what I call “purposeful foolishness”—those moments when a leader must make a bold and possibly unpopular decision because it appears to be the right thing to do. Courageous leadership is not careless. It listens to counsel, examines the evidence, weighs the consequences of acting and not acting, and accepts responsibility for whatever follows. When have you had to depart from a plan in order to preserve a principle? #Leadership #CourageousLeadership #DecisionMaking #EthicalLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #LeaningLeadershipLadder https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/purposeful-foolishness-tom-sims-clfmc  

 Photo by Ruth Bourke on Unsplash Centralize the Promise, Decentralize the Expression What Big Boy can teach us about products, people, branding, and growth A recent video about the rise and decline of Big Boy presents the company’s history through four things it did exceptionally well—and one structural decision that eventually weakened everything it had built. It is an entertaining piece of restaurant history, but it is also a useful business case study. The lesson is not simply that centralization is good and decentralization is bad. The more important question is this: As a business grows, what must remain under central control, and what should be adapted locally? 1. Build a product people can recognize and remember Big Boy began with a distinctive product: the double-decker hamburger. Its importance was not merely that it was bigger. It looked substantial, felt special, and delivered a memorable experience without destroying the restaurant’s profit margin. That is an...