Make Your Next Move Your Best Move - Now It's On You

Peace and blessings! People have a lot to say about racism - which is a social construct that supposedly began in the 14th century. See http://www.isreview.org/issues/26/roots_of_racism.shtml and http://theredcard.ie/racism-a-brief-history/... But, what about class-ism?  http://www.classism.org/about-class/ and http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/The-Myth-of-the-Culture-of-Poverty.aspx. Classism is also a social construct! I don't know how many times I have told someone that they can do something because another man did it (it has been done before - there is a precedent... This makes doing it repeatedly much more likely unless factors change. And those who are the most influential make sure that factors change) and they immediately think of their social or economic disposition. I have been guilty of this a number of times myself - so, don't get me wrong. We have to remind ourselves and each other because of the rigorous and aggressive p

Peace and blessings! Please forgive the week of no blogging... My schedule changed and it has been constant running back and forth. Everything I have ever done, I have invested years and thousands of dollars. 6 years on my first business. 5 years on this business. 1 year on my cleaning business. and so on... Trial and error is an expensive process - and not just monetarily speaking. You think you do everything right and wonder why the desired effect or results are not the end product. I realize one thing, one of the most important things, I have overlooked. My attitude. A saying I have carried for years and have always loved - " Attitude + Aptitude = Altitude !" Unfortunately, I do not know who to credit with that quote.  I have always had the best results when I cleared my path of the things which could distract me by having a negative emotional impact. I hold onto things until I can figure out how to fix them. So, it is a taxing process to say the least! However, I can

Of late, the topic of succession planning has sparked much concern. However, it seems few organizations have heeded the warning. According to a Human Resource Planning Society and Hewitt Associates study, fewer than 60% of companies have a succession plan in place. Below are some of the most common myths about succession planning. Myth #1: If there are no imminent retirements, succession planning does not need to be a top priority. According to a survey conducted by Capital H, nearly 22 percent of respondents expect to lose between 10 percent and 25 percent of their top performers to retirement within the next five years. These top performers play a significant role in a company’s success, often serving in high-level, supervisory roles. For successions to progress smoothly, the people chosen to fill these roles need to be prepared and adequately trained. That process takes time.  Myth #2: Succession planning is only an issue for big companies. 85 to 95 percent of all the companies in t

Why does Dave Ramsey say that "Cash is King"? The "King" is the one who maintains the Kingdom. Maybe that is why. Yet, maintenance also requires management, right? And, only people can manage - management requires a degree of care. Care involves attention to detail... Right? Right! So, cash is not my King. I do understand that he means it is smarter to operate directly with cash for the sake of financial management. However, care requires consciousness; and, the quality of care determines the quality of life. Your standard of care influences your quality of life. Both of these together determine your quality of life. So, what is standard of living? " Standard of living , in social science , the aspirations of an individual or group for goods and services." This is a biased or narrow explantion/definition of the phrase. Right now, the most commonly used definition (in a socio-economic-cultural context) of standard of living pertains to consumerism

Most sales to commercial clients usually carry 30 to 60 day payment terms. This means that as a supplier, you must deliver your products or services now. However, your client has between 30 to 60 days to pay you. This creates a significant challenge for owners of small and midsize businesses. The problem is simple. Your clients want to pay you in 30 to 60 days, but you must pay rent, payroll and your suppliers now. As you can see, the math does not work. Unless you have a substantial bank account, this leads to an almost impossible situation. If you are in this situation, it is also very likely that the bank will not be able to help you. As you well know, banks only lend to businesses that have three years of profitable operations and significant hard collateral. If you do not qualify for bank financing, your best bet may be to consider factoring. Factoring is a business financing tool that helps business owners who cannot afford to wait 30 to 60 days to get paid by their commercial cu

Statistics show that more than one million people in the United States start a new business each year. That number would be much higher if all the would-be entrepreneurs had the financing required to get a business up and running. In order to accomplish their dream of business ownership, entrepreneurs are finding new and innovative ways to finance their new ventures. According to Leonard Fischer, President/CEO of BeneTrends, one of these financing options is the use of a person's existing retirement funds - a pension, profit sharing, 401(k), IRA, etc. Under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), retirement funds can be transferred into usable capital for business investments or operations. If a person has more than $40,000 in a retirement account and is not currently employed by the company that holds those funds, he or she qualifies for this Small Business Administration (SBA) - recognized financing approach to start a business. Retirement funds can be used

There is no greater mistake than when a young man or woman believes he or she will succeed with borrowed money. Why? Because every man's experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, "it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune." Money is good for nothing unless you know the true value of it (understand that money is merely a form of currency - and there are several forms of currency. Also, money as we know it is Fiat Currency . Which means it only has the value man assigns to it. It has no intrinsic or inherent value and no commodity-backed value ).

As a trucking company owner you are very aware that transportation companies are quite demanding when it comes to cash flow. They need regular cash to be able to meet all the ongoing expenses. As long as cash is coming in at a nice rate, your trucking company operates like a well-oiled machine. But if there is a hiccup in the cash flow, the well oiled machine starts creaking. And if there is a major cash flow problem, gears start flying all over the place and the well oiled machine comes to a grinding stop. What is the biggest source of cash flow problems for small and mid sized trucking companies? Slow paying clients. Clients that take up to 60 days to pay their freight bills. Although large trucking companies can certainly handle waiting – small trucking companies with few power units usually cannot afford the wait. As an owner, you need the money and you need it now. Is the solution to turn away slow paying clients? Absolutely not. That would be business suicide. The solution is to

For many small businesses, the “S” corporation is the business entity of choice. The “S” in S corporation refers to a tax designation. All corporations are created the same way under state law. A small business must then choose a tax status, such as, “C”, “S” or non-profit. Important issues concerning S corporations are covered in this article. C Corporation v. S Corporation Federal tax laws automatically consider every corporation to be a “C” designation. A small business, however, may elect to be designated as an “S” corporation by filing IRS form 2553 . The election must be made prior to the tax year in which it is going to be effective. All shareholders must sign the election. A C corporation stands alone for tax purposes. It must file tax returns and pay taxes on profits. Profits and losses are reported on the corporate tax return and do not pass through to shareholders. C corporations can elect any calendar month as the end of their fiscal year. An S corporation is a pass through

Looking after a new employee during their first few weeks at work can mean the difference between their success and failure as employees as well as your success and failure as an employer, manager or supervisor.  Proper orientation determines how fast the new employee can be productive and efficient in his or her new job while giving you a good opportunity to make your new employee an efficient part of your team. Below are 15 suggestions that will help you deal with your new employees during their first few weeks to help make sure that they get started on the right track. 1. Have an on-boarding/orientation policy for welcoming and training new employees. Don't just leave it to whoever is available. Human resources should cover the HR side with a trainer (if you have one) or a senior manager or supervisor covering the more hands on part of the job. Either way the following is a minimum of what is required. 2. Give your employee a warm welcome. Don't just point them to the area t

Is your online company really serious about customer service? When it comes down to it, excellent customer service is pretty much the only way you will convert visitors to customers. You can also increase your ROI and improve online sales with excellent customer service. If you are truly serious about offering quality customer service, you may want to consider customer service software. With customer service software you can reduce customer service costs and increase your conversion rate at the same time. All the while, you will be making your customers happier, which will lead to more sales and an increase in ROI. Customer service software helps small businesses and large businesses alike by offering customer service messenger and support messenger. These offer 24/7 customer service to customers and potential customers. They can also allow you to track customers online and track consumer behavior online as well. Customer service software can offer live chat help and/or animated avatar

Has honesty become a thing of the past?  Many people are asking themselves this question as they scour the net for what they need.  As the low economy in the United States takes its toll on many, people are constantly looking for alternative ways to solve their dilemma, including the internet.  In a frantic search to find the ultimate solution, they spend their hard-earned money on “Get Rich Schemes” only to find out that the bargain they hoped for wasn’t a bargain at all.  With crushed hopes, dreams, and an empty wallet many people retaliate.  Some may pass it off by learning negative things such as not trusting anyone else… possibly for the rest of their lives.  Others quit buying altogether.  While still others, run and tell there friends they got ripped-off and by whom causing a viral rift, giving marketers a bad reputation.  Either way we look at these facts, we still come to the same conclusion.  We need to change the way we are doing things and become more ethically inclined whe

In the 24 + years of working as an entrepreneur, there have been some unique characteristics that separate pioneers and industry leaders from the rest.  It doesn’t seem to matter what organization they work for, or the services, the client base or the economic climate. These individuals are in fact the top 3% of the professionals in their field.  In addition to learning to think as CEO’s, Presidents, entrepreneurial leaders of Business Development units, we’ve discovered they have acquired the behavioral characteristics of a leader. They have learned how to set strategic and operational objectives in putting together plans, how to be visionaries and see opportunities for their organizations that other individuals may miss, and in the role of Business Development, they have mastered the 12 Core Competencies, a benchmark to measure leaders. When asked if leaders are born or bred, the general consensus is that leadership can be taught.  While few of us have had the opportunity to be forma

Sometimes being at the right place and time can do wonders for the business. This can happen in the street or in the mall and starts by just approaching a stranger. New contacts occur everyday and with a little initiative, the person may be able to close a sale or be referred to someone who may need it. There are many ways that a person can attract customers to one’s business. Some do this by launching a marketing campaign in the form of an ad in the paper or on a billboard. Some don’t use marketing at all and just flourish through word of mouth. On a more personal level if that person travels around, the best thing to carry and give out is a business card. Business cards are used by people in big and small time business. It reflects who the person is. It gives people an idea of what the person is capable of doing in the event that the service one offers is needed in the future. Such instruments are easy and light to carry along. It saves a lot of time and trouble for the othe

You’ve read about the importance of being courageous, rebellious and imaginative. These are all vital ingredients in an effective advertising campaign. However, they must be tempered with the most important ingredient of all—strategy. As long as the advertising industry has been in existence there has been debate about whether advertising is art or commerce. Quite frankly, this kind of divisive argument is a waste of time and has only helped to diminish what little respect the industry has earned through the years. Besides, the answer is simple. Advertising is the art of commerce. It can’t be pure art because pure art won’t engage the consumer on behalf of the brand. Art can certainly get people’s attention, but it rarely causes them to take action. If the consumer is not actively engaged, the brand won’t grow. If the brand doesn’t grow, the company won’t profit. And if the company ceases to make a profit, it dies and takes its brand with it. On the other hand, advertising can’t be mer

In order to get consumers (whether they are retail or service customers or business-to-business audiences) to notice an advertising message, many companies resort to loudness and one-upmanship. Neither of these tactics works in the long run. If your competition is talking loudly and you decide to yell louder, what do you think they will do? Yep. They’ll start to scream. Nobody wins a shouting match when it comes to advertising. And usually you’ll find you even lose a few customers in the process because they can’t stand the noise. It’s the same with one-upmanship. If you have to compete on more and better coupons or more and better discounts, giveaways or incentives unrelated to your core product, your revenue per sale decreases as well as your number of sales. Customers see these types of games as gimmicky, fake and disingenuous; and they leave. The ones who do stay now view you and your competitors as commodities with no difference except your price. That is a dangerous place for a

While reading some very informative material recently, I found myself inspired by a concept that enables a person to soar to higher heights.  The concept of adding value to everything you do, when applied to specific areas of a person's life, can bring that person to be highly sought after by those receiving the added value.  The material I was reading focused on business and what this concept will do for the success of a business.  Another way of looking at this concept is in the idea of doing more than is expected, or doing more than that which you are compensated to do.  When doing this a person will be "weighed" against others who do not.  In comparison, the person who adds value to all he/she does will be sought after to the degree that there will be keen competition for his/her service.  As a person becomes more and more recognized for doing more than he/she is compensated to do, he/she will begin receiving more and more compensation for their services. There is an

Effective business networking is the bringing together of like minded individuals who, through relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another. Keep in mind that networking is about being bona fide, building trust, and seeing how your relationship can genuinely help others. 1. Always figure out before you even walk into a room, what your specific goals are in attending each networking meeting.  This helps you to pick groups or associations that will help you get what you are looking for. 2. Ask open-ended questions during your networking conversations, questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how. Try to avoid questions that require a simple yes or no response. By using this line of questioning you can open up the discussion and show listeners that you are interested. 3. Become a walking resource center. When you become known as a strong resource, others remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you at th