Fortunately, you can learn much of what you need to know about purpose-finding and marketing strategy from a 99 cent box of Trader Joe’s tissue.

Every Aspect of the Trader Joe’s Tissue Box is a Purpose and Marketing Role Model

If you don’t have a box of Trader Joe’s Tissues in front of you, click here for pictures of everything but the bottom panel.

Notice the quirky, fun design. Notice how you feel as you read each side panel message. “I’m here for you when you need to pick up icky things … you’re sick, …you’re sad … run out of toilet paper,” followed by Tissue’s signature, like “you’re welcome, Tissue.”

Notice the friendly reminder at the top of the box (like something Mama would have said when you still listened) not to leave Tissue in your pocket when you do the laundry.

Purposeful Marketing (Not Advertising) Makes Trader Joe’s a “Firm of Endearment”

“You know me better than most of my relatives do.  You care about what matters to me and the world we live in.”  That’s how I feel every time I walk into Trader Joe’s.  So many others concur and love spreading the word about how cool it is to shop there.

You can’t buy authentic endorsements like that.  But you can develop happy customers who are happy to spread your good word, according to the book Firms of Endearment, you start by caring not just about stockholder returns and CEO pay but also about all stakeholders.  Or as Firms of Endearment authors David B. Wolfe, Jagdish N. Sheth, Rajendra S. Sisodia call it , SPICE:  Society (including the earth), Partners, Investors, Customers, and Employees.

As a Firm of Endearment, you’ll undoubtedly pay your CEO’s and upper managers way less than the norm while paying employees and lower managers way more. You’ll spend little on advertising, lots on community and customer service. Not surprisingly, you’ll have astounding employee and vendor loyalty, so they’ll stick with you in hard times and help create much more profit than the norm.

Trader Joe Tissues Tips for Becoming a Firm (or Nonprofit Agency) of Endearment

Here are some tips my business planning clients and I have created:

1.    Enlist customers, donors, employees, future employees, and others to help you brainstorm all the ways you can truly say, “We’re here for you when…”

2.    Be authentic. My husband, who provides personal services for busy people, is there for you when you when you want to free up time for more important things … you want to be better organized … you want your animals cared for when you are away.

John’s also there for you when you want something translated into and out of Latin.  He doesn’t get many Latin gigs, but this service tells others that he’s intelligent, he’s willing to study things well, and he’s got a sense of humor.

3.    Be specific and focused. If we’re not careful, we overload a message with “this is how I do it” statements” or “this is the story of how I discovered this” or just too many sentences, all loaded with clause after clause after clause.  Boring!

4.     Know What Matters Most to People You Want to Serve. In business, it’s called marketing research.  Miss Manners might call it getting to know someone.  So, meet with current or potential clients.  Discover what matters to them, how they express what matters, where they hang out, and so on.  Listen at least 6 times as much as you speak.  Then listen some more.

5.      Walk your Values Talk; Talk the Values You Walk Without Proselytizing. On the bottom of the Trader Joe’s box (not pictured on the link above) an 1890′s woman tells her man how she can make him feel better by accepting her offer of a Trader Joe’s tissue.  The statement that the product is 100% recycled, and no chlorine bleach was use in making the tissues simply states values that are important to the Trader Joe’s crowd.

What Can You Learn from the Trader Joe’s Tissue Box?

Over the next few weeks, discover how some friends and colleagues are being inspired to clarify their purpose and do better marketing. Now, here’s a challenge:  how much more clear could your purpose be, how much more juicy and fun could your marketing be if you let the Trader Joe’s Tissue Box inspire you?

As always, many blessings, and please add your comments below,

Pat McHenry Sullivan

What to do?  Perhaps its time to take a closer look at starting your own business.

Small business is actually the backbone of America.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA),  small firms generate 60% to 80% of all new jobs.  For almost every one of the last 10 years, the birth rate of small businesses has exceeded their death rate, while for large firms the death rate has been greater than their birth rate.

Small business expert and author Pat McHenry Sullivan has been counseling potential entrepreneurs for more than 15 years.  Through her workshops and individual consultations, she has helped hundreds of people write business plans which launched successful and satisfying enterprises.  I asked her assessment of the current economic times.  My questions are in bold; Pat’s answers are in italics.

Is this a good time to start a new business?

If you have the need now, and the passion now, and your products or services are needed now, then now is the time to do it.  Historically, many of the most enduring and profitable businesses began in an economic downturn. Starting to explore by writing a business plan can be valuable for 3 reasons: a) to see if your idea is feasible; b) to discover the best ways to turn your idea into reality, including having a clear vision of your market and how you can best serve them; and c) discerning whether or not you really want to follow your fully-fleshed business idea.  Also, if you start planning now, you will be ready to launch or expand when the economy improves.

Where is the opportunity in this chaos and suffering?

Right now, you can get terrific deals on work space, great employees, etc.  Friends, family, and potential business partners who are also unemployed have more time to brainstorm with you. And you may have more time to see more clearly who you are and what you want to do with you life now that you are free of the daily grind.

What is the new economic framework?  How is it different from the old which nearly brought the collapse of our whole economy?

A lot remains to be seen, especially if Obama can lead a return to solid regulation of the banking and financial industry.  Here are some trends that affect everyone:

• People are saving more, buying less, so you need to be much clearer about what you offer, who needs it, and how they will benefit from what you sell.
• People are more concerned with value they can see and touch
• People  want something they can trust — which means they want more authentic communication from you.
• Traditional small business lending is way down, though it might ease over the next year; creativity and resourcefulness are required to overcome minimal capital.
• People want more ownership in the economy; many are shifting from the larger banks to community ones.

What are the new rules that can rebuild our lives and the economy?

The more your business is anchored in your deepest values, the more solid—and successful—it will be. Here are some ways to do that:

• Cooperate more with others — e.g., build alliances with people you might think of as competitors; look for win-win solutions everywhere.
• Think respectfulness with clients and employees — this will draw and keep them with you, and not cause legal or other problems.
• Know and live your values in everything.  Do what you say, say what you do.
• Take full responsibility for your own choices.
• Build sustainability into your company.  Look for role models, support, and practical tips in the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

Are you intrigued but a little timorous?  There are lots of places to reach out for help.

Comments from Ellen:  The SBA website is full of useful information, including a basic business plan outline.  SCORE is a national association whose purpose is to help small business owners form and grow their businesses.  SCORE has 364 chapters in the U.S.; their volunteers have been involved in all aspects of business.

You can also reach Pat Sullivan, President of Visionary Resources, at: visionpat@aol.com, 510-530-0284.  Her free webinar, “Inspired Strategy: How to Turn a Vision into A Practical Plan,” given Feb 10 through the William & Mary Alumni Association, is archived at https://www.wmalumni.com/?Webinarhome.

This interview by Ellen Augustine, M.A., originally appeared in the Bedford Ohio Standard on January 29, 2010 and is reprinted with permission.  Ellen is a speaker and author on national currents and the emerging sustainable economy. She may be reached at ellenaugustine@earthlink.net, 510-428-1832, www.storiesofhope.us.

Comments!  Please add your tips, questions and resources.

Today, the best most new businesses get from the bank is not a loan but the advice to start a business by bootstrapping.  But what if your bootstraps are kind of puny?  If just can’t get enough from your credit cards, your savings, your family, friends or any payout you got when you were laid off?

Out of Oakland and Berkeley, CA come some powerful insights from one of the best bakeries anywhere and from a local law firm that focuses on sustainable, socially responsible businesses.

Arezmindi Bakery:  How It Launched with Minimal Capital a Few Years Ago and Last Year Increased Profits in a Down Economy

Arizmendi has an unusual business structure.  In this worker co-op, everyone makes the same income (currently almost $20/hour), depending on profitability, plus a share of last year’s profits (which could add $3-10 more per hour) plus great benefits.  Because everyone is responsible to make the business work, and  all voices are heard, the quality of the goods are superb.  So is customer service.

Arizmendi was inspired by the popular Berkeley, CA business, the Cheese Board, which helped launch Arizemendi.  Cheeseboard staff trained the first Arizmendi staff, shared recipes, and even passed on used equipment. That, plus a lot of old-fashioned elbow grease, helped them get off the ground in the cooperative model, which bankers don’t understand or appreciate.

For a full article on the Arizmendi success story, see /www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/running-a-business-with-26-ceos/Content?oid=1577035.

Are Investors Your Best Small Business Finance Model?

If you’re careful and creative, you might generate plenty of money for your small Main Street business by seeking investors.  But before you imitate Wall Street, Oakland attorney Jenny Kassan of the Katovich Law Group  suggests you be very careful to avoid inadvertently running afoul of state or national securities laws. Contrary to popular belief, securities laws can apply even if someone lends you money for your business, even a small group of local investors who want you to succeed.

Katovich suggests four options for raising funds that don’t require extensive, expensive securities-compliance work.

• Form a cooperative.
• Get donations.
• Sell memberships.
• Pre-sell a product.

For more about funding pitfalls, plus tips and examples of the four options above, see Kassan’s article, “How to Raise Money But Not Break the Bank.”

How to Tap More Creative Ideas from Oakland and the Rest of the East Bay

Oakland, CA and the rest of the cities on the east side of the San Francisco Bay are a hotbed of creative innovation, with a focus on green and socially responsible businesses.

A local free weekly, the East Bay Express,  just launched a new monthly small business issue containing the two great articles mentioned above.  (Full disclosure — I’m one of many small business owners in the area to advertise here.)

Stick with this blog as we explore more about the socially responsible and green businesses.  If you just can’t wait, check out three more of my favorite East Bay resources:

Sustainable Business Alliance: a great model for getting together with fellow green wizards in your area.

East Bay Green Tours, a mind-blowing experience of what can happen when businesses, local government, entrepreneurs and social organizations unite to create a thriving “Green Corridor.”

The Hub Bay Area, a recent addition to a fast-growing international network of gathering places where people with ideas gather to make those ideas happen — and have fun!

As always, many best wishes for your successful, creative work.

Pat McHenry Sullivan