Key Idea #1: It's OK if your personal and professional lives area seamless

There are 23 million small business owners, 8 million who employ others. The more we study this group, the more diversity we find. This is precisely the reason this segment of the population is so fascinating. Most of us are proud to sing along with Frank Sinatra, "I Did It My Way." More than anyone we have spent time with, Jim Morris represents the segment of business owners who are on a personal mission and the business simply supports that mission. He is one with his business.

You think back: How did Jim get started?

Answer: His business started by accident. He got involved in the environmental movement while he was a graduate student. Using the garage of a neighbor and a homemade press, he printed environmental messages on t-shirts and sold them to raise money for the cause. I think, since he made money right away, he got hooked. Why do anything else with his life when he could make a living steeped in a cause that could and has captivated him for over 20 years?

You think back: Why would author and business guru Michael Gerber laugh at Jim?

Answer: Because Jim comes to work every day. Michael Gerber represents the school of thought that we all want to build a business that is a stand alone money machine which will function perfectly without us while we go do what we really want to do which might include golf and travel. Hundreds pay Mr. Gerber, who is a failed business owner himself, thousands of dollars for consulting. It is in his writing and consulting that Mr. Gerber has found success. If I could interview him, he would probably tell me he loves his work now that he is profitable. And, if we took Mr. Gerber away from his writing and speaking, would he have a business? Just a funny irony to ponder.

Jim Morris is doing what he really wants to do. His personnel and professional lives are seamless. His life is in order. He is at peace.

None of us wants to be a slave to our business and be tired so closely that we can not take a few days or weeks off. At the same time, there is simply nothing wrong with being like Jim. He loves his business. He loves being physically present there. He loves the people who work with him. And, most of all, he loves his purpose. If you have looked at this video and read the transcript, you know his purpose is to teach people how to "Share the Earth."

If your goal is simply to get rich, read Michael Gerber. But if your goal is to build a business in perfect sync with your life values, let Jim Morris be your mentor.

What do you think? What kind of business can an owner find personal joy working at 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Answer: Any kind of business that has a powerful and large mission. Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, said the purpose of her business is to make people smile. Is that a powerful and large mission? Maybe the biggest I have ever seen. Life is hard for everyone. Smiling is sometimes impossible when we think about what we face.

Jake Miles' purpose for starting Cultural Toys was to make toys the color of all childres and through these toys teach children how to live a non-violent life. Big goal? Huge goal. Is this worth his time? Yes.

If you don't have a big mission, get one.

Key Idea #2: Use people power - Share the earth

Listen to the people who work at Environmental T-Shirts and you'll hear a real pride, an affection, for what they are doing. They are on mission to make the world a better place.

You think back: What is the people power within this business?

Answer: Yes, it is their big mission. Yes, it is the quality of their work. Yes, it their kindred spirits.

Their mission, to teach all of us to share the earth, keeps them focused and purposeful. That is the foundation of their business. That's the first principle.

They know that they do good work. There is a pride in doing good work. That creates a legacy and expectation such that their past work challenges today's work.

They like each other. There is a camaraderie that transcends and lifts everyone.

That is people power. There is an entire episode about it and snippets within virtually every episode.

Question? Can you empower your people with a simple three word expression?

Possible answers: Yes. Engage your people and have a contest to reduce your work to the smallest expression. If you are a sole proprietor, engage your suppliers, your support people (lawyers, bankers, CPAs, etc.) and your customers. You'll be surprised.

Please think about it: What is the highest and best use of the work of your business? How are you making the world a better place?

Key Idea #3: Attract the right people because it is the right business

Jim doesn't seem to have to work too hard recruiting employees; they seem to end up on his doorstep.

You think back: How does Jim attract employees?

Answer: From the story we learned that he met one of his salespeople while hiking, he has run ads and current employees bring their friends around when there's a job opportunity. When we studied Meetings America we saw in action the idea, "like attracts like" and I see this clearly at Jim Morris Environmental T-shirt.

The service people at Jim's told us they like Jim's philosophy, they like being around him, they love the cause and they themselves are environmentalists. One employee rides his bike to work in all types of weather because he doesn't want to pollute the environment by driving a car. The shipping manager even mentioned that Jim is conscious of toxicity in their working environment and provides bottled drinking water and air filtering systems.

Frankly, I have never heard the employee of a small business use the term toxicity. This simply tells me that Jim hires people who think about the environment more than I do. This same person grows her own vegetables, has her own compost and when she talks to me about the shirts they sell, her eyes sparkle because she is wearing a piece of art by her favorite local artist. This local artist captures in her watercolors the birds, flora and fauna that thrive around Boulder. Me, I'd rather wear a plain white T-shirt. So see, people are different.

Jim attracts employees. He doesn't have elaborate recruiting schemes and personality tests or profile evaluations for people to go through before he hires. He attracts and hires environmentalists who move more at the pace of nature than at the pace of business.

What do you think? Does Jim win employees with big paychecks?

Possible answers: No. People earn a living wage, but, people work with Jim for the gestalt of it all. Don't think you can ever build a business with money alone. You have to have a good idea and a mission undergirding that idea. Just earning money becomes boring in the long-term. And, that's another point, Jim is building for life.

Key Idea #4: Suppliers and customers finance the business

Jim's graduate degree in mathematics or just common sense have helped him see that there is more profit when you don't have loan debts.

You think back: How has Jim built a business without debt?

Answer: Patiently. If you don't have a pile of money to purchase a pile of t-shirts, you start by asking the supplier to send you a few dozen shirts on credit. You print up the shirts quickly and sell them then pay off the supplier on or before the agreed upon date. Little by little, you can increase the credit because you prove yourself. Basically, a supplier works just like a bank. You can borrow $5,000 from a bank, pay it back before it's due then the next time you borrow, they'll loan you $7,500.

My father even advised me to do this back in my 20s because I paid cash for everything and had no credit rating. I think I just borrowed $500 and paid it back quickly.

The brilliance though of Jim's strategy is: suppliers don't charge interest. He gets to use the shirts for free for 3-4 weeks. This is called float.

The problem I see with many small business owners is they are either too conservative or too aggressive when it comes to money. We here are too conservative and some would say Jim falls in this category. This means we don't get enough credit or borrow enough to make big growth leaps. We, like Jim, don't want to have big debt hanging over our heads.

There is much more on money, also, see if your business is a good candidate for a Direct Public Offering. Learn about equity financing which is totally underutilized by small business. The only obstacle between you and your goals today is ignorance. Learn more to earn more.

You think back: Has Jim depended strictly on suppliers for cash flow management?

Answer: No. When a customer places a large order, Jim requires an upfront payment. Study Automated Food Systems and you'll find that Glen Walser does the same thing. Once you have a reputation and you win the business, it is not difficult to require money in advance of producing a product. This is not unlike just-in-time manufacturing and it is taking on even more power with the escalation of e-commerce.

What do you think? Why do both of these techniques work so well for Jim?

Answer: He does what he says he's going to do. His suppliers are happy because he pays on time, his customers are happy because he delivers quality products on time. Both groups want him to succeed because their success is entwined with his.

Our own poor self-esteem or lack of confidence will keep us from asking suppliers and customers to finance us. To build confidence, start small.

Key Idea #5: Don't be greedy.

Don't be greedy or jealous of the success of others.

You think back: What happened when Jim saw one of his customers enjoying huge sales increases?

Answer: He said he got greedy and tried to imitate that company. When failure was the result, Jim went back to doing what he does best. We can try to learn from others but because we can only see the surface of another person's business it is truly impossible to succeed with pirated techniques.

This is why trade secrets are closely guarded. A secret can hold a key to understanding what makes a business succeed. What we see on the surface doesn't reveal the real reason a company succeeds, so, we should study the companies we admire but don't try to copy. Distill the ideas, let them become part of you then your own brand of strategies will emerge.

What do you think? Is greed ever good?

Answer: Not if you stick to the agreed upon definition. Greed means excessive desire. It is good to want the best, it is good to have high standards, it is good to try hard because the exercise of trying will make us stronger and better. However, greed can blind us so that we loose sight of our true goals which is what Jim said happened to him.

Key Idea #6: Spend on quality.

In your efforts to conserve, don't be cheap.

What do you think? What risk do we take if we always do the cheapest thing?

Possible Answers: The low-bid or the cheapest equipment can't give us the best results in the long-term. This theme keeps emerging here. Small business owners who have companies that have lived past the difficult five year mark will tell us consistently, you have to spend money to make money. You must have quality equipment and quality people to build a sustainable company.

You think back: Is the silk screening machinery Jim owns the best he can buy?

Possible answers: Yes. And, we were not surprised to find his database of 100,000 names is stored in an IBM computer. Even though IBM is a sponsor of the television series, we run into lots of computers in small businesses that are not IBM. Jim happens to believe in buying the best when equipment is critical to his business success.

I didn't notice him wearing Ralph Lauren khaki slacks though. Spending on the business is very different than spending on yourself. He loves his old car, but he doesn't expect Ton Dot to produce beautiful artwork with old printing equipment.

As a mail order business that prints catalogs regularly, Jim Morris Environmental T-shirts is perfectly suited to e-commerce. The companies greatest strength as it moves into cyberspace is the foundation it has built with its community of interest.

What do you think? What is a community of interest?

Answer: It is a group of people who have a common fascination. And, generally the smaller the focus the more important the Internet is to the community of interest. For example, sports lovers could be called a community of interest. However, this is such a large group that the mass media supplies them with an extraordinary amount of information. Every newspaper has a sports section and every broadcast television network has sports programs and not only is there ESPN there is also ESPN II.

Within the sports lovers category there are dozens of communities of interest. One that is gaining in popularity right now is competitive bass fishing.

Environmentalists are a community of interest and this is the biggest reason Jim's web site will succeed in the long run. He not only sells shirts with art work and messages appealing to the environmentalist, he provides in-depth information about legislation and the activities of activist around the world. He even provides "environmental alerts." Visit Jim Morris Environmental T-Shirts on the web. He's at www.jimmorris.com.

Jim spent $10,000 in 1995 to put up a website. It was glitzy and online ordering capability but he found himself ahead of the curve. He took the site down for a couple of years then rebirthed it in a simpler format. It is now done in-house by John, the staff artist, and business is picking up.

Key Idea #8: Stop and smell the roses or any flower that's handy

Get tired? Running out of steam? Loose your enthusiasm?
Recreate yourself by connecting with nature.

You think back: What does Jim do when he is runs out of energy?

Answer: He goes to the walking path that runs behind the building where his business is located. Boulder has over 300 miles of inner -city walking paths and Jim tries to use them regularly. Fresh air, physical exertion and a change of pace will usually help any of us shake off the blues. When I was there Jim taught me how to look inside a flower. This was new for me. I've been a jogger for 25 years and the old exercise advice was good, but, what I learned most from Jim was a new awareness of how nature can teach us just to be.

I remember memorizing the Bible verse, Matthew 6:28. It says, "Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin. Yet, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Jim took me out on the walking path and told me to notice the plants, listen to the wind in the trees, and he asked me to tell him what I saw inside a flower. This was a complete attitude altering experience for me. You should try looking inside a flower.

You think back: What else does Jim do to stay invigorated?

Answer: He keeps up with the activities of his spiritual mentors. These are the grandmothers and grandfathers of the environmental movement. If they are still out there working, he needs to be too. It may be hard to find people to look up to but it is essential.

Go back and study Tom Gegax of Tires Plus, Bill Hagstrom of UroCor and Marty Edelston of Boardroom, Inc. All owners of long-lived businesses have energy sustaining habits.