It started a couple years ago with "Shark Tank" every Friday night on ABC. Every sales rep should be required to watch this show and then be able to walk up and offer a short and concise sales pitch for their product or service. Perhaps "Shark Tank" was a gateway show to deeper addiction.
Next was "Celebrity Apprentice" with Donald Trump. All businessman should study this show and learn how to work under pressure and with a team. It will make you a stronger manager, and will help you to see the performance level of you and your team.
But my favorite now is "The Profit" on CNBC. Marcus Lemonis walks in and does a quick assessment of an operation from top to bottom, and then offers to invest in a real life struggling business. During the opening of the show, Lemonis states that he wants to save jobs and make money, and he has done this through a variety of small retail and service businesses throughout the US.
I would absolutely love to see Marcus Lemonis take the newspaper industry on in one of his episodes. Every operation needs to have some self examination time, and I believe the way he goes about this business-autopsy would prove extremely beneficial and profitable for newspaper companies.
Lemonis exams the causes of lost business, finds ways to improve cash flow and improve the core business of the investments he makes. The common thread of all of the episodes I've seen is that the basic business is solid, but the focus has been lost by leadership. Lemonis and the show's producers find a way to unlock the inner-passion that the owners and employees of these companies still have. Isn't that what the newspaper industry needs to do?
The business landscape is quickly changing, I fully realize. But the basic model of business can still work as we continue to move and adapt to the emerging digital changes. Inland Press Association had an article that featured Warren Buffett and the future of newspapers.
"Warren Buffett: What Newspapers Need to Do to Survive" goes over some fundamental things newspaper publishers need to do to survive and thrive in the short term and long term. My favorite passage from the story hits directly on finding that passion, in the newspaper employees and the communities we serve.
"Passion does matter, and the proof is in the revenue trends that some newspapers show. When those dedicated editors gather a team that cares, the community cares right back and shows it in readership."
I will rely on business minds like Lemonis and Buffett, and try to follow their lead. Their business principles will work for a small flower shop, a hair salon and I believe, the newspaper industry.
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