Buffalo Small Biz Blog: Two Guys, Some Grease and 30 Years Strong

When two people's names are up on a business marquee, I'm always interested in their story. Especially if they can fix a flat, a carburetor, headlight, and much more with their hands tied behind their backs.

Today, while driving down Kensington Avenue in Snyder, I spotted such a sign, and also two distinguished gentlemen relaxing at a picnic table directly underneath it. One was reading the paper, half-blinded by the sun, and one was finishing a sandwich.

They sat in a comfortable silence most friends rarely achieve, let alone business partners, as if they had zero worries in the world, and had sat that way countless times before.

Their tan mechanic uniform shirts were crisp and ironed—with their names embroidered on the pockets. I couldn't make out the names from my car, but I already could guess who they were. (They were, after all, sitting under a sign that said "Bob and Don's Auto Care.")

So I stopped to say hi.

Turns out Bob and Don have had their auto shop at that corner (2229 Kensington Ave.) for over 30 years.  Partners in their business day in and day out fixing probably thousands of vehicles for their neighbors over the years so far, and still counting.

I asked if I could snap a photo, and chatted for a few minutes. They said the neighborhood people are loyal and wonderful customers. Plus they always liked the location, and still do.

Challenges? More and more competition from all kinds of auto shops and national franchises now all around them. But things seem okay and they are continuing to do what they love. I saw on their Facebook page tonight that Don just turned 70 this May. I imagine Bob is about the same.

Thanks, guys, for serving as a great example of turning an idea into a business, doing what you love, doing it well, providing excellent service and weathering the good, bad and in-between on the road to success—now three decades and counting.

(PS... I'll bring in the car soon to fix that light. Glad I met you.)

This blog is neither a paid endorsement nor a paid non-endorsement. Only words and laughter were exchanged during the brief 5 minute conversation with Bob and Don. It is likely the first of occasional other Buffalo Small Biz Profiles when I see or hear an interesting story I think others would enjoy. -JS 

You are SO creative! (Or are you?)

“I’m just not the creative type.” “They’re the creative ones, so they should do this part of the project.” “I wish I was more creative, but that’s definitely not my area.”

Sound familiar? There’s a current LinkedIn group discussion I noticed about “How do you define creativity?” I saw several hundred people sharing their definitions. I didn’t read any of them.

The reason is because I have been thinking about that topic on and off for a long time—because of all the times I hear people I know tell me they are NOT “creative types.”

Each time I hear this, I typically share five words: I doubt that very much.

My answer is based one simple belief: that most people confuse creativity with “artistic talent.” But it’s not the same at all.

This misunderstanding usually begins in high school, like a bad case of acne. Before high school, do you remember how we all had to take art and music? Some students were more naturally gifted than others in these subjects. But we all participated, and were better for it, even if we did not grow up to be the next Matisse or Marsalis.

But shortly after we hit high school, something happened. We no longer had to take art or music beyond typically a one-year requirement. After that year, that was that. Some people (the smaller group) were labeled creative. The rest were not. The labels were applied quickly, even though just two years earlier, we ALL had paintbrushes in our hands, and were willing to use them (or at least to try using them, and trying is more than half the creative battle).

After a couple more years, we began applying the same labels to non-artistic “creative” exercises. The idea that some of us were creative, and the rest were not, became embedded in our brains.

So those who were not labeled creative in high school, assumed their usual roles. They firmly believed it, too. Didn’t even challenge it. They henceforth hardly ever now as adults give themselves permission to participate in creative exercises. They’re often are not even invited to join in, anyway. Those in control or managing something (people who also self-label themselves “non-creatives”) go and find or go hire “a creative person” to help solve the riddle of the day.

On the flip side, there became a large group of other folks led to believe that because they had nurtured an artistic talent of some kind (e.g. writing, design, music, etc.), that they alone have claim to the creative moniker. Some were, and some were not, in the larger sense of the word. An entire set of professionals in advertising and related industries now uses the word “creative” to define their artistic talents.

It is not the same thing as creativity though. It’s the acne thing all over again.

But what we CAN learn from them is the formula, or rather the anti-formula. Artistic individuals have given themselves absolute permission to experiment and play with alternative solutions, concepts and a world of what ifs. Jazz improvisation, expressionism, cubism, rap, hip-hop, poetry, and a whole history of examples come to mind.

Think you’re not creative? How many times in your past that you have labeled yourself that way? How many times have you let others define you that way, and you never challenged it?

You are very likely creative in some, or in many potential ways. No one owns that opportunity. No one can keep you out of the sandbox. And your organization, business, volunteer group and community needs you to jump in way more often. (The fewer the creative ideas we allow to be generated, the smaller the chance of finding the best ideas worth pursuing.)

The creativity sandbox is nice, because it has no punishments for coming up with imperfect potential solutions. You just have to let yourself in, and allow yourself to enjoy what we once took for granted as kids. The freedoms to play, think, ponder and plan without constraints, criticism or the rules of official decision-making.

My advice is also for the “creative types” who are highly skilled in some form of artistic talent. Take extra time pondering the other side of true creativity. Have a catchy slogan, gorgeous logo, clever campaign? We need them. But in what ways will it create a solution to a business or organizational challenge besides being temporarily memorable?

Sometimes, being memorable for an extra week or month and keeping top-of-mind awareness of a name or product is all that is called for. It’s tough being noticed and maintaining awareness in a crowded jungle of similar brands, products and ideas. But will your idea, over time, address a need with a better solution than the present way? Will it help win over more new customers, keep existing customers coming back, enhance loyalty to brand, provide greater value to customers, or make any processes more efficient, profitable or effective on either the client or customer side?

If it will not, it’s not a creative solution by definition or practice. It’s just clever and artistic.

Clever, artistic, hip, cool, killer, rockin’, awesome and hot are catchy, fun and exciting. You may even have your social media channels “blow up” (in a good way) for a week or month. But in the end, if it does not solve the challenge, and just titillated, we should return to the sandbox and start fresh.

Only this time, invite a few “non-creative” people in to play, too. As a team, I bet your group may come up with something that can be carved and sanded into true and meaningful positive outcomes.

It's not that you don't need artistic ideas and fresh designs and campaigns. You do, and I'm the first to encourage you to pay experts for those. Just make sure you work effectively with your internal or external teammates to come up with, well, "creative" solutions.

It'll be good for business, and even better for you.

John Senall is principal and founder of Mobile First Media and Digital Healthcom Group. He personally labels himself as semi-artistic (e.g. writer, occasional designer and video guy), but usually he just hires excellent people to do most of that because they are fun to work with and way better than he is at that stuff. He does fancy himself to be creative, though. Not sure how that happened over the years, but maybe it's because of his jazz drumming roots and his track record of achieving results in communications and marketing management. Call 716-361-9124, or emailjohn@mobilefirstmedia.com if you have a sandbox and want to jump in.