Rarely do my main interests and reasons for writing, Small Biz and the Twins come together so perfectly.  But that is what Bruce Schoenfield, who recently penned a great story on the two for Entrepreneur Magazine.  I know most of you probably could care less about the Twins (though its hard for me to imagine), but Schoenfield does a great job of laying out a Top 5 of lessons you can learn from the Twinkies experience.

The Twins of the 90's are kinda like a business going no where fast.  They were horrible - think today's Royals or something similar.  They had come off a couple World Series titles, but were in a major funk. 

Now I'm not saying everying from Twins Territory can be applied to your small business, but there are some tidbits in there for a biz owner to grab onto.  Why I haven't thought of the paralells before makes me wonder, but its out there now.

So the Twinkies were on the verge of elinimation as a team in the MLB - contraction was the terminology.  Think of it like bankruptcy I guess, but without the $150 Million payout the Twins owners were going to get. 

A few big keys saved them that could translate to any organization, including yours.

1  Identify Your Strengths   Sounds easy, but far too often I see entrepreneurs trying to do to many things for too many people.  That leads no where but failure in most cases.  Keep it simple, keep it predictable, and folks will flock who value that approach.  If you can't outspend your competition, "out-service" them

2   Offer a Unique Experience   This one is mostly directed at the fact that the Twins new stadium was a catalyst for launching a new era of the team.  That said, the Twins were winning and winning fans in recent years while still playing in the Homer Dome, so I'm sure of the strength of this one for a small business.  But maybe your "experience" needs to go beyond the store front, to your service, your employee's uniforms, your signage, etc.  If the kid behind the counter is less than welcoming - there goes the sale.

3   Connect with your Customers  Make them feel like they are "behind-the-scenes" in some way, shape, or form.  Give them a peek into your world and you'll be surprised how many of them will want to help and become "brand champions" for you. 

For the Twins, that meant the "winter caravan" and boy do I remember those.  As an 8 year old, getting Jeff Reardon's autograph in Mason City was some pretty cool beans. 

For you, that might mean some Facebook engagement or a blog (hopefully better than this one) or those fun Customer Appreciation days or some similar type of loyalty program.  Something to engage the customer and make them feel like they have a "back stage pass"

4   Remain loyal to your employees  As David St. Peter, the former president of the club said, "let the people do their jobs".  For an entrepreneur/business owner/company founder - this is always one of the toughest things to do.  You need to remove yourself a bit from what you have created and let others help to mold and shape it into something better than it could be under your direction alone.  "Trust" is the word of the day on this one.

And finally,

5  Know when its time to act like a Big Business

Schoenfield is mainly channeling the Mauer deal on this one, which might seem a bit tough to parlay to the world of small business.  Basically we are talking about a little Kenny Rogers action - know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away....