We recall a tape we listened to a few years ago by a management consultant.  It raised a great question, especially for members in consulting or their own business, but also for our alumni members.

The question is are you working in the business or on the business?

He used the fast food example.  There were plenty of fast food spots when Ray Kroc got involved in the industry.  He came in with a difference.   Others worked in the business.  He, instead, worked on the business, developing an operation that could scale up.  McDonald's blew by the others.

Back to our members in consulting members, for example.  Which mode are you in?

• In the business.  Actively consulting.  Maybe some business development.  Nose to the grindstone.

• On the business.  Developing your positioning.  Business development or having others help you out.  Have people to tap into to do lower level parts of your consulting.  Thinking of ways you can promote the business or scale-up.

The speakers point was that real entrepreneurs work on the business.  Otherwise you just have a job.

If you work for an entrepreneur, how would you rate them on this basic test?

If interviewing with a smaller firm, how would you characterize the president?

Finally, let's shift gears.  We will put ourselves to the test.

We are shifting to working on the business as we develop your association for 2003 to serve our members and outsiders (recruiters, companies, VC's).  During 2002, as we held down expenses and got into production mode, we worked more in the business.

A good test can be if anything is really changing over the years.

We tried to make change at our prior group, but they were more interested in working in their real business, the sister organization, generating markups on consulting assignments with alumni members.

Our approach is different.  For example, we became members of the Association Forum and already are picking up a number of ideas.  They had two good sessions today, one on association web sites, and the other on metrics that matter for associations.

We work on the business, to offer more value for you.