Don't be this salesman

On Christmas Eve I drove to Best Buy to get myself a Christmas present, a sound bar for our TV.  I had done some research and had two model numbers written on a piece of paper that I was interested in.  Soon after walking into the correct department a young salesman asked if he could help me.  I asked him to show me my first choice of a sound bar which he did.  However, almost as soon as we got to it he began telling me the flaws in that model.  That surprised me a little as it had been one of the highest rated sound bars on the Best Buy website.  He offered to show me a better one in the same price range which turned out to be my second choice.  After spending a couple of minutes telling me about its features I told him I would take it.  He then told me he didn't think they had any in stock!  He spoke with another salesman who came over and told me they had just sold the last one earlier in the day.  Of course, he offered to order one and didn't seem too pleased when I told him I could order one myself.

It being Christmas Eve I wasn't bothered by the fact that they had sold out of that model.  What was so bad was that no one even asked if I would be interested in the first one I had looked at or another one in the same price range.  Why in the world would the salesman try to talk me into buying a different sound bar than the one I asked about knowing that they didn't have any in stock?  I drove one hour to that store with the intention of spending $300.00, and I walked out of the store with that $300.00 still in my pocket because two salespeople do not have a clue how to sell.

Sales is difficult enough without talking yourself out of the sale.  It is one thing to try to talk a customer into an upgrade.  If he or she is not interested you can always return to the item they are interested in purchasing, but to lose a sale trying to make a lateral sale is stupid.  A smart salesperson would have affirmed the positive qualities of the product I asked about and sold it to me.  If there were no positive qualities about that product then, first of all it should not be carried in the store, and secondly he should have pointed me to a product they actually had in stock.

Some might be wondering why I didn't ask about buying my first choice after the one was not available or why I didn't ask about other models that were available.  I considered it, but I don't feel it's my job to train the salespeople at Best Buy on how to do sales.  By the end of the week I will be in a different city near me with many stores like Best Buy and I'll buy my sound bar at one of them.  That store will get my $300.00.

Would your salespeople know how to have handled this potential sale?  Why don't you run this scenario by them and see how they would have responded?  You may need to do some training of your own if they don't respond properly.

The power of a dream

Although I don't watch every episode I do occasionally enjoy watching Shark Tank.  The people who often have the greatest success on that program are people who have had a dream and have worked hard to see it happen.  They are on the show in hopes of getting the financial backing to take their dream to the next level.  Some have described enormous sacrifices they've made as they have pursued their dream.  These stories resonate with the sharks because they've been where these hopefuls are now.  Although I don't know the stories of all the sharks, the ones I do know are stories of sacrifice, hard work, and a refusal to quit.  Their dreams were bigger than the obstacles they were facing which allowed them to continue until they became quite successful and wealthy.  When someone comes on the program with a similar story that rings true, and has a dream that can succeed, that person usually walks away with one of the sharks investing in their dream.

When we think of powerful dreams the first person we often remember is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his famous I Have a Dream Speech.  Even now one cannot hear that message without feeling the power of his dream, a dream which he was totally committed to seeing occur even at the cost of his life.  As a graduate of Liberty University with two degrees from that school I think often of Jerry Falwell's dream of starting a university for Christians that would compare with any other university in the world.  Starting very humbly in classrooms in his church that school nearly closed in the early 1990s due to finances.  His dream refused to allow Falwell to give up, and today over 92,000 students are enrolled in their residential and online programs.  It has 253 undergrad programs of study and 87 graduate programs.  Barbara Corcoran, one of the sharks I referred to above, was a straight D student in high school and college and had 20 jobs by the time she was 23 years old.  But, she had a dream and borrowed $1,000 from a boy friend which she turned into a real estate business which she later sold for $66 million.

What is a powerful dream?  John Maxwell defines a dream as "an inspiring picture of a future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it."  Each of the persons mentioned above had such a dream driving them to succeed.

If you own a small business you probably started it with a dream of doing something different with your life.  One problem with dreams is that sometimes in the course of everyday business the dream gets lost and forgotten.  When dreams are forgotten they lose their power to compel us to do our best every day and we begin to accept mediocrity.  Such mediocrity will never allow us to see our dreams fulfilled.

As we enter into a new year this is a great time to revisit your dreams.  What exactly do you want to accomplish with your life and your organization?  How are you going to make a difference in 2013?  Be very clear with your response, and you may even want to print it out and frame it so you can keep it in front of you every day as a reminder of why you are here.

One final thing should be said about dreams.  Not all of them are equal.  Many who go on Shark Tank leave disappointed because they could not getting backing from any of the sharks.  Some had not thought through their dreams to determine if there was actually a need for their product or service.  Some of the dreams are, frankly, rather foolish and not deserving of a person's efforts.  John Maxwell wrote a very helpful book to help a person evaluate his or her dreams that I would recommend as you examine your own dreams.  It's called Put Your Dream to the Test: 10 Questions to Help You See It and Seize It and can be ordered by clicking on the title.

This will be my last post until after Christmas so let me wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!

Don't treat everyone the same

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In every company there are some people who rise above everyone else in their work ethic, their sense of knowing what to do, their attitudes, and their ability to execute.  Even if you have an above average team in your company, there will be a few shining stars who helps raise that average even higher.  These people are critical to the long-term success of your business, and it will be a mistake to treat them the same as everyone else.  There are so many things a business owner cannot control, but one thing he or she can control is the development of the people in the company, and these star employees need to be developed.  Providing them with the right resources will only make them even more valuable to your business.

These are the people you want to invest a significant portion of your time in through coaching and training.  A company I worked for would pay the tuition for any employee to go to college as long as the course even remotely would benefit the company.  They defined that benefit very loosely, and they paid all my tuition while I earned my undergrad degree.  A small business might not be able to do that, but most could offer at least some financial assistance to their star employees.  Owners would want to seek nearby seminars that would help their best employees learn new skills.  Top employees should also be cross trained so they can learn the various jobs that exist in the company.

Top performers should be rewarded differently than other employees.  They should receive higher pay raises and larger bonuses.  Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, in their book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, explains that "When the wrong people get rewarded, the whole organization loses.  Problems don't get fixed, nonperformers get ahead, and the good performers start looking for jobs at places where their contributions will be recognized."  You are under no obligation to pay everyone the same or to give all your employees the same bonus.  It's your money.  The only people who will get upset if they are not treated "equally" are the lower-performing team members.

Speaking of lower-performing team members, they need to be treated differently as well.  Every six months Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank would fire the lowest performing 25% of her real estate sales people.  While that may be extreme, their lack of success does need to addressed quickly by the owner.  It may be that they are were not hired for a position best suited to their gifts, or they could need additional training, but the cause of their poor performance needs to be corrected or they do need to be replaced.  In today's business economy no small business can afford to have a group of people who are not producing.  They are not only a drain on your bottom line; they are also a drain on your top performers.

Treating all your team members the same is not an issue of fairness and only your less productive employees insist on everyone being treated "fairly."  In fact, it is unfair to your top performers to treat them the same as you treat others on your team.  Even worse, it is very de-motivating to do so and will soon cause them to either leave you for another employer or begin to function as the lower performers.  Either way, you lose.  Invest in your top performing employees and your business will reap the rewards for years to come.

Firing customers

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When I owned our heating and air conditioning business we had a customer who owned a number of rental properties.  He had used our business even before I took it over, but he often complained about our work and especially our prices.  Nearly every bill he received sent him into orbit.  One day he came into our office yelling at our office administrator about the bill he received and promising to never do business with us again.  When I went to the office later she was still upset.  I explained that I hated to lose a long time customer too, but we would probably be better off without the drama his business always created.

A few weeks later I answered the phone, and it was him calling about an apartment that needed the HVAC repaired.  I reminded him of his outburst the last time we did work for him and told him I was under the impression he was not going to use our company any more.  He gave a nervous chuckle and responded that since he had used us for so long there wasn't any sense in calling another company now.  I thanked him for that but then explained, "We will be glad to do business with you, but we will not tolerate any more outbursts like the last one.  We have always been fair with our pricing to you and always will.  If you have a question about a bill you receive from us, please call me about it, and as long as you are reasonable in the conversation then I will be glad to talk with you.  If you get out of control like I heard you did the last time I will hang up and we will never do another job for you.  Are these conditions acceptable?"  He said they were; we did the work he asked us to do, and he never again complained about any of our work or our bills.

Running a small business is tough enough without having to deal with unreasonable people.  I gave him a second chance only because he had been such a long-term customer.  There were others we simply refused to do any further work for after our first encounter with them.  Their expectations were unreasonable and their attitudes were toxic.  Trying to collect the money they owed us was often a challenge.  They were exactly the kind of customers we were glad to see our competitors have.

When someone is starting out they are afraid to turn away any business.  That is understandable, but it's not healthy for you or for your company.  Such clients will often cost you more time and money than what their business is worth, and they will stop doing business with you if they can save a nickle by patronizing your competitor.  If you find someone consistently complains about your product or service, wants you to lower your prices, and expects you to provide him or her with priority service over all your other clients you have a customer that you probably need to fire.   Chances are you'll see little difference in your company's bottom line at the end of the year, and you'll find that operating your business is a lot more enjoyable once the're gone.  For more about the dangers of being too loyal to the wrong customers be sure to read my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.

Be professional

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Over the weekend I found I needed a repair done on my house.  This morning I called a company that does the kind of work I needed done.  The first phone number I called came out of last year's phone book, and I got a recording saying that number was no longer in service.  I got the newer phone book and found that the company had switched their number to a cell phone.  I called that number and a voice answered, "Yeah?"  It caught me off guard for a moment and then I asked, "Is this __________ company?"  "Yeah."  I almost hung up simply because of the way the person answered the phone, but the only other company that does the work I needed done is a hour's drive away and I didn't want to pay for that much windshield time.  The person I called is supposed to be at my house early tomorrow, but I can tell you that if he isn't here close to the time he said he would be I'll call someone else.  At this point, he will have to prove to me he is more professional than his telephone skills indicate.

I've used this company before, and I'm pretty sure he works out of his home.  I don't have a problem with that because so do I.  I also don't have a problem with him using a cell phone for his business phone.  Many small business owners do that.  But, that's no excuse for projecting such a poor professional image. 

One of the challenges people have when they work out of their home is remembering that they are operating a business and need to project a professional image to their potential clients.  My office is in a separate room of our house and this is the only thing that room is used for.  A dedicated phone line runs into that room with a different number than our home phone.  When the phone on my desk rings I know that it is almost always a business call, and I answer it much differently than when I answer our home phone.  I also don't have a television blasting away in the background or music playing loudly.  Even if I do have those on, it's a simple matter to mute them when the phone rings so that there are no distractions in the background.  I want to project the same image to people who call my home office that they would receive if I worked out of a high rise office complex.

Here are some other things to consider when working out of a home office.  Don't allow children to answer your business phone.   Isolate your business phone from household appliances.  It's nice to be able to wash a load of clothes while I'm working at my desk, but I wouldn't want a caller to hear my washer going through the spin cycle while we're discussing him hiring my services. 

I've always found it best to meet clients away from my house.  Occasionally, I have one who offers to come to my office to talk, but I really don't want people coming to my house.  I've found that if I offer to meet them somewhere for lunch, and I'm buying, they're usually happy to do that.  It keeps things on a more professional level and keeps our home from being a meeting place.

One other thing I started doing about a year ago was I got a post office box and began switching my business mail address to that box number.  I don't consider that a big thing, but I wanted to separate my personal mail from my business mail.  Most of the contacts I have is through e-mail so I have found that if I stop by the post office once a week to check my box I can stay on top of my business mail.

There are many good reasons for working out of your home, and for many of us it makes a lot of sense to do so, but we must remember that it is important that we always project a professional image in everything we do.  When a new client first calls us it is the one chance we have to make a good first impression so be professional.

What are you doing to intentionally grow?

I became a big John Maxwell fan when I first read his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You.  I had never read anything that impacted my leadership as much as that book.  Since then I have bought most of Maxwell's books, but none of them had the same impact on me as that first book until I read his latest, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential.  Unless I am very surprised it will be the important book I will have read this year.

In my earlier years I was like many people who assume that we grow as we age.  That simply isn't true.  Getting older just happens.  If you stay on this side of the grass long enough you will get older.  However, growth requires intentionality.  We have to take certain steps throughout our lives if we want to grow as persons and as leaders.  We need to take those steps every single day of our lives if we want that growth to be persistant.  Maxwell would take that even further and say these are not merely steps we need to take; they are laws we must follow if we want to reach our potential.

For me, this book did two things.  It opened my eyes to some things I had not really considered before when thinking about growth.  For instance, he writes about the law of the rubber band.  A rubber band is only useful when it is stretched.  I have a pile of rubber bands in one desk drawer that are completely useless unless they are stretched over something I want to keep together.  As I read that chapter I realized that I am very similar to those rubber bands.  I am at my best when I am stretched, and the primary times that I have seen growth occur in my life is when I've been stretched by situations and challenges.  If I want growth to occur in my life I must put myself in situations where I will be stretched.

The second thing this book did was remind me of things I already knew but sometimes forget to practice.  The law of the mirror is one of those things.  The way we see ourselves has a huge impact on what we are able to accomplish and on our ability to grow.  Many years ago when I coached Little League baseball I used to tell my team to never let a mistake hurt you twice.  We would often see a player make an error on the field and in the next inning strike out because he was still thinking of that error.  Sadly, there are many times in my life when I forgot to take my own advice.  I would preach a poor sermon and beat myself up throughout the next week because of it.  I would make a poor business decision that cost my business needed profits and feel like a complete failure.  In this chapter Maxwell provides ten steps that will improve our self-image.  I know everyone of them, but I found it so helpful to be reminded of them.  Growth will occur as we implement these steps in our lives.

I just finished this book a couple of weeks ago and plan to read it at least once more before the year is out.  I can't give a book a higher recommendation than that.  I may be approaching retirement age, but that doesn't mean I want to stop growing as a person and as a leader.  I hope you feel the same way.  Too many people are counting on you for you to stop growing now.

The cost of the election

Many millions of dollars were spent on the recent election by congressional and presidential candidates, but the real cost of the election may yet to be seen.  Almost immediately after the results were in some business owners were announcing lay-offs and reduced hours for their employees.  One mine owner announced over 150 employees would lose their jobs, and it is reported that 54 people have already been notified that they were being laid off due to the concerns of the President's view of the coal industry.  The CEO of Papa John reported this week that most franchise owners would reduce the hours of their employees as a result of Obamacare.  Only those working 30 or more hours a week are required to be covered by employer provided insurance.  The corporation that owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants announced similar reduced hours for their employees, and the owner of Applebee's is reported to have said their restaurants to cease hiring new employees.  Large corporations such as these make the headlines, but one has to believe that many small business owners are having similar thoughts.  Of course, the public is outraged and boycotts of these businesses are already being considered.

American people have become somewhat schizophrenic in recent years.  We love millionaires who play sports and will buy clothing with their names plastered all over them.  We love millionaires who star in movies and on television.  We love millionaires who sing.  We love millionaires who go to Washington and pass laws they don't understand that impact the entire nation.  But, we hate the millionaires who provide us with jobs.  These are the greedy ones that must be destroyed so "the playing field will be level for all people."  I simply don't understand this line of thinking.  Not once in my entire life has a poor person ever gave me a job that provided for my family.  I've never even had a person on the same economic level as me give me a job.  Crush the ability of a business to make a profit and the unemployment rate will go up even higher than it is already. 

Businesses, both large and small, must make a profit to survive and be able to provide jobs that benefit everyone.  The small business I owned went enough years without making a profit that it finally had to be closed putting all my employees out of a job.  For anyone in Congress and anyone else who never studied Economics 101, a business cannot survive if it is not allowed to make a profit!  Of course, we can complain that the salaries of those who operate such companies are out of control, but the ones who make that complaint have probably never owned a business.  Founders, owners, and CEOs of these businesses are the ones taking the risk.  Employees may lose their jobs when a business goes under, but the owner of a small business is often at risk of losing his or her home, life savings, and retirement accounts.  Why take that risk to earn the same salary you could earn working for someone else without any risk?

Only people who have owned a business can understand how mandated health care will affect the company's ability to earn a profit.  Others like some in Congress who said they would read the bill after it was passed don't have a clue how it will affect small businesses.  After all, this is the same kind of thinking that convinced Congress they knew how much water it took to flush a toilet!  They got that wrong, and many business owners believe they got this wrong as well.

People will argue that businesses will just pass on the cost of the insurance to their customers, but here is where that American schizophrenia kicks in again.  The public loves Papa John's $10.00 pizza.  What happens when the costs of that pizza goes up to reflect the real cost of mandated health care coverage?  People will be outraged at the "greed" of the company.  They will stop buying the pizza resulting in stores closing and more employees out of work.  Take that across the board and include more than just restaurants.  Begin to think of supermarkets, department stores, service providers, wholesalers, and other companies all facing the same challenge of trying to earn a profit with increased government interference.  How many costs can be passed on to the American consumer before the entire economy collapses?

Health care insurance is expensive, and we should not expect to see it become less expensive just because it is mandated for everyone to have it.  I've yet to see any government mandated program result in lower costs.  Small business owners are going to have to be very careful that their health care costs do not jeopardize their ability to remain profitable.

The need for health care reform is real.  Too many people have been without health care and have suffered as a result.  Could there have been a better solution than Obamacare?  We'll probably never know now since President Obama's re-election ensures that it will move forward.  My fear is that in the next five to ten years that the changes under Obamacare are enacted we will find that this election cost America much  more than just the money spent by the candidates.

Making things work

The USS Enterprise recently arrived at Norfolk, Virginia after making its final deployment.  The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, it is the oldest active duty ship in the Navy.  It's reactors are being shut down now and it will soon be scrapped out.  It hardly seems a fitting end to a ship with such a glorious history, but after removing the reactors it would be cost-prohibitive to try to repair it and turn it into a museum as some wanted.  The reason this matters to me is that I served on board the ship from 1968-1971 making two tours to the Tonkin Gulf off Vietnam.  I have a lot of fond memories of my days aboard the ship.

A primary reason for its decommissioning is the lack of parts available for repair.  It is the last of its class, and many of the parts needed to keep everything running are not produced anymore.  It is very expensive to buy one-off parts even with a military budget.  Some things simply aren't available at any price and must be hand-made by people on the ship.  When you are running flight operations in support of troops on the ground you can't stop what you're doing waiting for someone to ship you a part they first have to make from scratch.  You find ways to get the broken part fixed to continue the operation.  Even when I was on the ship there were times when things had to be fixed on the spot to keep the operation running.  You just had to learn to improvise.

What a great lesson for a small business owner.  You can read all the textbooks on business management you want, but eventually you will encounter something that isn't covered in the books.  You can attend every workshop available, but one day a customer will present you with a challenge or a problem that wasn't covered in any of them.  A natural disaster may hit your business forcing you to scramble to keep your business open and serve your customers during an exceptionally difficult time in their lives.  Small business success is often determined by how well you can improvise and make things work when it seems everything doesn't want to.

During normal times businesses need systems to make things happen.  Many small businesses struggle because they are always dealing with the same issues and having to make the same decisions time after time because they never developed the proper systems to address those issues.  Systems and policy manuals are needed to maintain consistent quality in the normal course of business.  Without such systems your business will be much more difficult to manage than it needs to be.  But, during times with unusual challenges your systems may not be adequate to solve those challenges.  it is here the small business needs to be flexible and move outside its normal way of doing things.

This gives you an incredible opportunity to surpass your larger competitors.  These large box companies are managed by people who often do not have the authority to bypass company policies that were set by people in distant places.  "I'm sorry, but that's company policy" is the only answer they know to give as if that is supposed to satisfy a disgruntled customer.  I often compare my experience on the Enterprise to the years I owned a bass boat.  It took miles to turn that ship around; it only took me a few yards to turn my fishing boat 360 degrees.  Small businesses can make corrections much faster than their larger competitors, and that gives you an advantage they will never have over you.

Look for ways to satisfy your customers.  Find new ways to resolve problems and challenges.  Challenge everyone in your organization to think creatively every day.  Regardless of the challenges, find ways to make it work.  You can read more in my recent e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.

Who are the readers of this blog?

For the past several weeks I have posted regularly on this blog but have received no feedback from any of its readers.  Would you please let me know who is reading the blog, what you do, and what topics you would like this blog to address?  That information would be very helpful to me.  Thank you.

Is there a better way to do your job?

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In 1967 I enlisted in the US Navy and a year later was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise where I spent the next three years of my life.  I enjoyed many aspects of Navy life and may have made a career of it except I had a wife and daughter waiting for me to come back home and resume a normal life.  I find I am often drawn to books that are somehow connected to the Navy which I why I first picked up It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, 10th Anniversary Edition by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, then captain of the USS Benfold, a ship he turned from one of the worst in the Navy to one of its top performing ships.

One of the first things he did when he took command of the ship was to ask each crewman, "Is there a better way to do what you do?"  He found that there were many better ways to do things and whenever possible he gave the people the power to make those changes.  It was a huge morale booster that not only led to higher performance but also to a higher retention rate.

Abrashoff understood something many leaders forget.  The people doing the job often know more about that job than anyone else including the so-called experts.  The funny thing is that these leaders knew that when they were working their way up the ladder, but once they sat down in the manager's or owner's chair, they suddenly begin to believe they know more than the persons doing the job.

For thirty years I was employed at a factory working various machine lines, the assembly line, receiving, and quality.  I was amazed how often someone would come to a line where I was working from their air-conditioned office and begin to tell us how we could improve the way we were working.  I once had a time-study expert conduct a full time study on a particular job I was doing on the assembly line while the line was shut down for repair!  I told him it was impossible to do a time study on my job when I couldn't even do the job.  He insisted I walk him through what I did and he would be able to determine how long the job should take.  His report wasn't even close to the actual time it took to do that job.  What an idiot!

This guy reminded me of a product engineer who insisted that a part they had developed would fit perfectly on a certain model of engine we were building.  There was one particular configuration where the mounting holes would not match up properly.  Time and again we complained about the problem, and every time he would demonstrate on his computer how everything matched up fine.  It took weeks before someone forced him to come to the assembly line and actually install the part.  He soon found out the part would not install on that configuration, and the part was re-designed.

When I became owner of a small business I made many mistakes which I explain in my book by that name, but one mistake I avoided was to believe that I knew more about what our employees did than they did.  In one of our earliest meetings I told them that if I got in their way while they were trying to get work done to just kindly ask me to step aside.  These were experienced, hard-working people who knew far more than I ever would about how to do their jobs.  Any changes that would be made would happen only after we discussed them, not just because I thought something different would be better.

How often do you ask your team members if they can think of a better way to do their jobs?  How willing will you be to give them permission to make the changes they identify?  When people have real input into how they function while at work they are usually much more productive and have much better attitudes towards their work.  That can quickly improve the bottom line of any business.

If you haven't read Abrashoff's book I would highly recommend it.  It's really an interesting read.

John Maxwell's latest book

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A few days ago I was thrilled to learn that I had won a free copy of John Maxwell's latest book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential.  I have been a big fan of Maxwell for many years and was looking forward to reading his latest book.  To win a free copy was icing on the cake.

Many people don't know how easy it can be to receive free items from their social media accounts.  This is the second time I've won a free book this summer.  Earlier in the summer I actually won two free books and a DVD simply by responding to a question about how I planned to spend my summer.  I won Maxwell's book by promoting its release on my social media sites a few weeks ago.  The publisher had a random drawing of all the people who did that and give away 25 copies of the book, and I was one of the recipients.  Counting the other books and DVD I've won this year it would come to about $75.00 worth of free top quality material for very little effort on my part.  You may want to check out some of the sites you regularly follow and see if they ever do any promotions.

The book came today and I've already read the first two chapters.  In those initial chapters Maxwell argues that one cannot grow as a person and as a leader unless he or she is intentionally seeking such growth and is aware of what needs to be done in order to grow.  It seems so simple, and yet many people lack the self-awareness needed to do that.  They have never identified their strengths and weaknesses and thought about what steps they need to take to begin to grow.  Most people seem to think that growth just happens as it did when they were children.  We didn't have to do much to grow.  Every few weeks you could have someone measure you and you could see how much you had grown.  Well, there comes a time when physical growth ends, at least vertical growth, but the mental, spiritual, and emotional aspects of our lives should never stop growing.  But such growth will not just happen on its own.  We must be very intentional about seeking growth and very intentional about taking the necessary steps that will enable such growth to occur.

I became a pastor in 1981 with only a high school education and no pastoral experience.  I soon realized I was in over my head and began to seek growth opportunities.  About a year later I began my ministry education at a Bible college about a hour's drive from my home.  Working full time in a factory and pastoring a church meant that it would take me four years to complete their two year program, but shortly after graduating from that school I enrolled at a university also a hour away from my home to begin work on a college degree.  Since 1981 I have been committed to being a lifelong learner, and two years ago at the age of 62 I earned my doctorate.  All of those years I have been involved in ministry and working other jobs as well, but it was important to me to continue to learn and grow, and I've been willing to pay the price to do so.

I am not suggesting that you need to pursue a formal education, but you do need to be committed to a lifetime of growth if you want to grow as a leader.  If you're not sure how to begin such a journey I would suggest you begin by reading Maxwell's book.  I normally do not recommend books I haven't completed, but this book has started so strong and I have such confidence in Maxwell's writing that I will recommend this book without hesitation.  As you read the book keep asking yourself what steps do you need to be taking to grow as a person and as a leader.

The good is often the enemy of the best

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A basic economic reality is that all resources are limited.  That includes your financial resources, your time, your manpower, your strengths, every resource you can think of.  With every decision there is an opportunity cost involved.  When you choose to do one thing you are therefore choosing to not do other things with whatever resources you are using.  Every dollar and every minute you spend in your business can never be used for anything else.  That is why we do not want to spend a single dollar or minute we don't have to.  Instead, the goal should be to wisely invest those resources into our businesses and our personal lives.

The usual enemy of the best is not the worst but the good.  Most people do not make decisions that they know will be harmful to them.  Most sane people try to make good decisions that will have a positive impact on their lives and their businesses, but too often we are satisfied with making the good choices rather than taking time to decide if this was the best choice.  You have X amount of dollars available to invest in your company.  Would it be better to spend that money on a new company vehicle or a new machine that would allow your employees to be more productive and efficient?  It really depends on numerous factors that you have to take in consideration as they apply to your particular situation.  The key is to realize that you can only invest that money in one thing.  I see too many small business owners driving new company vehicles while their employees are trying to operate with outdated equipment that costs the company a lot of productivity.  For editorial honesty, I will admit to being one of those owners at one time, and I regret it to this day.

How does one determine the best use of resources?  We have to go back to the vision of the company.  Where do you see your business in five years, and what must happen for you to get there?  Every investment of resources should be in line with that vision.  Not one moment, not one dollar should be spent that will not lead you to the achievement of that vision.  This means that once the vision is determined, strategic planning must follow so you can identify the steps that will take you to the fulfillment of that vision.

In closing, often the best investment of your resources will be in people.  Ultimately, it is not the equipment, the computer systems, the display pieces, the marketing, or anything else that will enable your company to succeed.  It will be the people who use the equipment, the computers, the displays, and who develops the marketing that will determine your level of success.  Investing in the very best people you can find and continuing to invest in their growth and skills will nearly always pay the greatest dividends.

Strategic Planning

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If you noticed I have not been posting for the past few days it's because my wife and I took a much needed vacation to Panama City Beach last week.  It was great to get away for a brief time, but now it's time to get back to work.

 I was very pleased to read an e-mail when I returned from a reader of my book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions That Will Close Your Small Business.  He wrote to tell me how much he enjoyed the book and felt that it should be a required book for a class for entrepreneurs.  He said he especially appreciated the chapter on strategic planning. 

That was also one of my favorite chapters to write because too much of what small businesses do is open their doors each day, fight through the  daily challenges, and wonder why nothing much changed over the past year.  The reason little changed is because the owners of these businesses did little intentionally to make changes.  They spent so much time working in their business they had little time to work on their business.  They assumed that somehow magically things would change and improve without their doing anything intentional to making that happen.

Small business owners must spend a portion of their time with their feet on their desks thinking about the future of their company.  They have to have a clear vision of where they want their business to go over the next year or so and then determine what steps will be needed to get there.  Begin with the end in mind, and then you can work backwards to identify the actions you will have to take that will get you from where you are to where you want to be.  That is strategic planning.

To read more about strategic planning and other decisions you need to make to keep your small business strong I encourage you to read the book.  It is currently only available for NOOK reading devices and can be purchased here.

The power of knowing your customers

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When I sold my business a few years ago I did so at an auction.  Quite frankly, we had it for sale for some time with no interest.  We had already closed it which meant there was no money coming in, but there was still money going out.  An auction would at least stop the bleeding.  The nature of the business meant it would not be something that the general public would be interested in attending the auction which concerned me.  Fortunately, the auctioneer I chose had a long list of persons who had bought items at previous auctions, and they were listed in his computer by the types of things they bought.  He assured me he could send letters to at least 100 companies who were in the same business I was selling to invite them to the auction.

That may be why he was successful at what he did and our company was not.  I never compiled a list of customers by their interests so I could send them information about new products or services they might be interested in purchasing.  I often read that direct mail to past customers was one of the best marketing strategies a company could use, but my few attempts at direct mail were all sent to prospects, and none of them resulted in a single sale.  When it came time for the sale, most of the vehicles in our parking lot were from companies similar to mine.  His direct mail worked and brought out buyers who may not have known of the sale otherwise.

Since that auction I began going to occasional auctions myself.  I've been to enough of them that the auctioneers know what I'm most likely to buy.  Today I received a letter from the auctioneer who conducted my sale letting me know he has an auction scheduled for this Friday evening.  He wanted to make sure I knew there were a lot of items that I've purchased in the past that would be available.  He even sent a list of many of the items and directed me to a site on the Internet where I could see pictures of those items.  I plan on going.

Several years ago I purchased a number of suits from a salesman in a nice department store in a nearby city.  After the first or second suit I bought I began receiving notices from him letting me know about sales his department were having.  He noticed I always bought my suits when they were on sale, so he made sure I knew upcoming sale dates, not only for suits but for other menswear items as well.  Over the course of three or four years I purchased a new suit from him about every six months.  I also bought a number of dress pants and dress shirts from that same salesman.  He left for another job, and I never received another contact from that store again.  Now that I think of it, I never bought another suit there either.  That salesman knew me, he knew what brand suit I liked, and what I would pay for it, and he made sure I always knew when I could buy one for that price. And, I usually did.

How well do you know your customers and what they want or need that your company can provide?  What are you doing to intentionally stay in contact with them?  How often do you send direct marketing material to them?  Studies find that it's much easier to sell to a current customer than to a prospect, and it costs much less to get their business as well.  If you don't have a current client list you need to begin developing one and begin marketing to it.  It will add to your bottom line.

Leadership failure

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My last post looked at the importance of character in a leader's life.  I want to continue that thought today by looking at how a lack of character caused well known leaders to fail.  These character flaws were not morality issues, but they were character issues all the same.  There are four primary areas of leadership in which many leaders fail to exercise character: authenticity, self-management, humility, and courage.  Tim Irwin, in his excellent book Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership (NelsonFree), addresses these in detail and looks at the failures of well known leaders such as Robert Nardelli, Carly Fiorina, Durk Jager, Steven Heyer, Frank Raines, and Dick Fuld as examples of how these leaders failed as a result of one of those four character issues.  It is a sobering book as one realizes how, if these leaders at the top of their game, could fail it is very arrogant of us to believe it could never happen to us.

Irwin explains that derailment doesn't happen all at once.  It's a process that involves making one wrong decision after another.  It may be that one's arrogance prevents him from listening to the warnings of others.  It may be that a leader lacked courage to make a critical decision.  The problem could be that team members saw a lack of authenticity in their leader and refused to follow her.  Anyone can have an off day without it resulting in failure, but when such character issues are dominent in a leader's life it is almost a certainity that failure will eventually occur.

To counteract the possibility of such failure Irwin recommends five habits of the heart.  They are

1. The habit of openness - A willingness to receive feedback from others
2. The habit of self-other/awareness - An examination of one's strengths and weaknesses
3. The habit of listening to early warning systems - Paying attention to the stresses in your company
4. The habit of accountability - A willingness to be accountable to others for our actions
5. The habit of reliliency - The ability to bounce back from adversity

Each of these habits are critical to the success of entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Lacking any of them can lead to failure as Irwin demonstrates by studying the failures of the business leaders mentioned above.  If these individuals can fail due to a lack of character, so can any of us.  A habit is something that is developed by consistently and intentionally focusing on something.  It is not something we can do once, cross off our to-do list, and move on.  We must examine our actions, our attitudes, and our words on a continual basis to ensure that we are developing each of these five habits.  To learn more about how these other leaders failed and how to develop these five habits in your life you should read Irwin's book.

Character and leadership

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There are two things required of someone who seeks leadership:  competence and character.  While both are important the character of a person is often a better predictor of long term success than competence.  Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Theological  Seminary believes that approximately 70 percent of leaders do not finish well.  He agrees that leaders can do rather well for themselves through their skills alone, but the leader whose skills are greater than his or her character will eventually falter.

As a small business owner you create the environment in which your company conducts its business.  Every business, like every other organization, has a culture, and the owner of small businesses determine what that culture will be.  We do not have the luxury of hiding behind "company policy."  We created that policy.  We cannot blame some faceless "they" because "they" are us.  We model the type of behavior and character that we expect from others on our team, and that becomes an important part of our brand.

The phone rang one day in our shop, and as I started to answer it one of my employees said, "If it's my wife I'm not here."  The two of them had an argument that morning before he came to work, and he didn't want to talk to her.  It so happened that it was her, and when she asked if he was there I said he was and told him to pick up the line.  When he later hung up he was not very happy with me.  He said, "I told you to tell her I wasn't here."  I looked at him and said, "If I'll lie for you, I'll lie to you.  Is that the type of company you want to work for?"  He looked at me for a moment and walked off.  I wanted him, and everyone else on our team, to know that they could expect the truth from me even when it wasn't pleasant, and I expected the same from them.

As some of you know, during the years I ran our business I was also the pastor of a small church in our community.  We did some work for another pastor who was very slow to pay us.  He was well past 90 days late paying his bill, and some wanted me to take him to small claims court for payment.  I refused to do so on biblical grounds.  The Bible teaches that Christians are not to take other Christians to court.  I know that is a teaching that many Christian business people ignore as not a good business practice, but I felt strongly that it would be wrong for me to sue him for the money he owed.  Probably two or three more months went by before he came in and paid his bill in full.  We received our money, my relationship with my fellow pastor remained intact, and I did not violate a biblical principle.  I realize this would be not a recommended business practice, but I felt that it was part of the climate I wanted for our company.

The Golden Rule is always the safe option when one is confronted with an issue in his or her business.  If you were on the other side, how would you want to be treated?   Then that is how you should treat others.  If you would want grace, you must extend grace.  If you want people to be honest with you, you must be honest in your words and actions.  If you want respect, you must be respectful to others.  This is how one demonstrates character in his or her life and is how a culture of honesty and integrity is created in a business.  Such character will allow you to enjoy genuine success over the long term and make your small business a good place to work and with which to do business.

For an in-depth look at this issue I would highly recommend The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence.  This very uplifting book explains how character enables you to have greater influence in your business, your home, and every other area of your life.

When the dream becomes a nightmare

I begin my book Mistakes by describing the scene as trucks and vans left our business location at the end of an auction with our equipment, parts, tools, office equipment, everything.  It was one of the worst days of my life.  Fifteen years of my life went down the drain that day.  The only good news was that we were able to pay off our debts, barely, with the proceeds of the sale.

Like every small business owner I went into this wanting a better life for myself and my family.  This wasn't a new, unproven start-up but a well established business with a solid customer base and long-time employees.  On the surface there was no reason to believe this would not be a dream come true, and for the first 10 years it was.  The last five years, however, became a nightmare.  The reason I wrote Mistakes was to explain how that happened in the hopes it would spare others from having to go through my experience.

If I had to sum up one overall problem that led to the dream becoming a nightmare I would have to say it was a lack of focus on my part.  I didn't pay attention to the details.  I didn't spend enough time developing a strategy for how our company would continue to move forward into the future.  My competitors did and shot right on past us.  I didn't pay enough attention to the financial numbers, and although I knew they weren't good I assumed they would somehow, automatically (?) improve.  I didn't spend enough time working in our business, and even worse, much worse, didn't spend enough time working on our business.  A business can coast for a period of time, but eventually you run out of downhill, and when the road begins to run uphill you won't go far coasting.

You can purchase Mistakes for your NOOK reading device by clicking on the book cover in the right hand margin.  In this book you can learn about the mistakes I made, many of them not uncommon for small business owners, and how to avoid them so your business can continue prosper and be what you always envisioned.

Providing training for your team members

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In the late 1980s I decided to begin work on a bachelor's degree.  I was forty years old, had a family, worked full-time in a factory, and was the bivocational pastor of a small church in our community.  You would think that would be enough to keep anyone busy, but I felt that I wanted to earn a college degree.  The company I worked for would pay my tuition for any class that would be applicable to my work there, and that included just about every class I took.  My cost was my time, books, and fuel driving back and forth to the classes.  It was a good deal for me and it's one that many businesses offer their employees.  It took seven years of attending classes to earn my degree, and a year after graduating I took early retirement and left that company after 30 years of service.  Some might think the company wasted their money, but I would disagree.

About three years before retiring a new position came open in our plant.  Being a union factory all shop jobs were assigned by seniority whether the person was qualified or not.  This job was different.  It would not be assigned by seniority, and the union would select the person.  The person who got the job would be a contact person for every customer the plant had.   This was the person who received information about quality issues for all the products our plant produced and had the responsibility to find out what went wrong and what corrections were needed to ensure it didn't happen again.  I became the person selected for the position.

It was quite a change for someone who was used to coming to work every day running machines that manufactured cast iron pulleys.  I had an cubicle in the office area and reported directly to the Quality Manager and the Plant Manager.  When I went out on the floor with a problem every supervisor knew that they had to work with me to resolve it.  I received phone calls from customers all over the world.  One day I had a conference call with customers in Scotland and Brazil.  When I began my new job our plant quality wasn't very good; when I left it three years later our defect rate was one of the lowest in our company.

To this day I am convinced that one of the primary reasons I was selected for the job was because I was working on my college degree.  That didn't make me smarter than anyone else, but it did demonstrate I had the capacity to learn and the ability to relate to others.  Having to write papers made it more likely that I could handle the written communication the job demanded.  The reduction in our quality issues on my watch demonstrated the union rep made a good choice in selecting me, and the investment in my college education was one that paid off quite well for the company.

Some companies seem to understand the importance of training their team members while others still view them merely as production units.  I've heard some argue that they were not going to spend much time training them beyond what they needed to do their job because they would just leave anyway.  That may be true, but as Zig Ziglar says, "The only thing worse than training someone and losing them is not training them and keeping them."  Providing regular training opportunities often brings dividends to a company they never expected.  At the time I began my college education the job I would later get didn't even exist in our company.

Most small businesses would struggle paying for college tuition for their employees, but there are numerous training opportunities for people that are fairly inexpensive.  A local community college might offer a course that would be helpful or interesting to some of your team members.  There may be a seminar you could take people to.  Many offer significant discounts for additional team members to attend making them very affordable.  There are many on-line courses that some of your team members may enjoy.  Investing in their training makes them more valuable to your company and will often make them less likely to want to leave your company.  Many return your commitment to their growth with a greater commitment to you.  Making training available to your employees is the smart thing for every business to do.

If it ain't broke...break it.

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Many of us have heard all our lives  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  It was a warning that messing with something that was working well might create more problems than it was worth.  That may have been good advice at one time, but it's lousy advice now.  I encourage people that "If it ain't broke, break it because it will soon be obsolete anyway."

We live in a rapidly changing world that requires people to adapt quickly or be left behind.  Your business plan from 2007 is probably not as effective today as it was just five years ago.  Hopefully, you're not even using that plan any more.  If your equipment is more than five years old it's probably outdated and inefficient.  If the goods and/or services you offer your clients have not been updated in the past 2-3 years they are probably coming across as stale and unappealing compared to what your competitors are offering.  Have you taken a fresh look at your marketing strategy to see what's working and what's not?  Have you checked out new vendors to see how they can add value to your business?  How often do you change out your displays to showcase new items?

One of the mistakes I made when I took over our business was seldom changing anything.  You can read about that, and many other mistakes I made, in my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.  You can order it for your NOOK reading device by clicking on the book cover on the right column on this blog.  I made very few changes in how we operated as a company, and the changes I did make were often too small and certainly too late in coming.  Our competitors ate our lunch because I didn't want to change things that had stopped working.

Several days ago I admitted I liked watching Bar Rescue on television.  One of the things that the rescuer does is change virtually everything about the bar.  He changes the name, the decor, the items on both the food and drink menu, the uniforms the employees wear, and the way they go about their business.  One of the reasons the bars are not profitable is that nothing has been changed for years, and he wants to help create a new brand for the bar.

When you walk into your business tomorrow take a long look around.  Try to imagine what it would look like to someone who had never been in your business before.  Would they find it vibrant and exciting, a good place in which to do business, with goods and services that appeal to them?  Or, would it appear to be tired and outdated with people who look like they would prefer to be just about anywhere but there?  You may want to ask someone to be a secret shopper so you can get an honest opinion from someone with new eyes who may see things you'll overlook.

Change just for the sake of change is stupid, but making changes that improve your organization makes a lot of sense.  Don't hold on to something just because it used to work or your employees (and you) find it a comfortable way of doing things.  Business is too competitive and customers are now too demanding to hold on to things that no longer make good business sense.

Are you ready for a coach?

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Many large corporations provide an executive coach for their top tier management.  They understand the return-on-investment for coaching is huge.  A study in Michigan a few years ago of sales managers who hired coaches found a 10:1 ROI in less than a year.  That represents a serious return.  Another study of 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies, found a ROI of 5.7:1.  That also is an impressive return on the money invested in coaching.  In addition, coaching provided other advantages to the companies that provided coaching to their leadership.  People who were considering leaving the organization remained.  A more positive work environment was created.  Customer satisfaction and revenue increased.

Despite the many positives that surround coaching few small business owners and entrepreneurs use coaches.  Some of that may be due to the cost of an executive coach which can run from $400-800 an hour and even higher.  The entrepreneurial spirit causes many to take a "Lone Ranger" mentality that doesn't lend itself to seeking outside help.  A third reason may be that small business owners are so busy that they don't feel they have the time or energy for coaching.  All of these are quite short-sighted reasons that fails to view coaching as an investment in one's life and career.

A few years ago I was struggling with a career decision and really felt pulled in two directions.  Ironically, our organization was providing coaching training to our executive staff and part of that training included coaching by our trainers.  For several months I had the opportunity to be coached by our primary trainer and used that time to explore the two options I was considering.  By the time our coaching was completed I had made a decision which of the two I would take.  It was such a powerful experience that I began coaching others and have enjoyed a coaching relationship with several people.  The benefits of coaching later became the thesis for my doctoral degree, and next spring I have a book being published that explores those benefits.

How do you know when you need a coach?  Here are some signs that you are ready for a coach.

1. You feel stuck and are uncertain how to begin to move forward again.
2. You have a desire to improve areas of your life and leadership abilities.
3. You need help in troubleshooting issues that are holding your company back.
4. You sense it is time to make major changes in your life or career.
5. You are going through a life transition and need help in processing that.
6. You need someone you can talk to who will maintain confidentiality.
7. You are ready to take your business to the next level.

Do any of these ring true for you?  Maybe it's time you invested in a coach to help you begin to move forward in your life and/or career.  If so, I would be willing to talk to you to see if we would be a good fit for a coaching relationship.  If you would be interested in such a conversation, respond to this post with your contact information and we'll see if coaching makes sense for you.

The secret to business success: Selling

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There are so many things to do when starting a small business.  There are business plans to write, inventory to purchase, supplies and equipment to buy, perhaps hiring team members, and finding a good location.  You have to ensure that the facility is kept clean, that paperwork is kept in order, taxes and vendors are paid in a timely fashion, and you are adequately marketing your company.  This list could go on and on.  But, nothing has really been done until you've sold something.  Everything else may be important, but none of them mean anything if you are not selling goods or services.  You're not in business to keep your shelves full and tidy, you are in business to make a profit, and you can't do that until you sell something.

I've met store owners and employees who didn't seem to understand that.  Clerks have made me wait to check out until they finished filling up the shelf they were working on.  Some were clearly frustrated when I interrupted what they were doing with a question on how to find something in their store.  I want to give them my money, and they want to finish dusting a shelf.  Here's a novel idea for a business:  Take the money.  Make the sale.

The most important thing that happens in any small business is sales.  Without sales you have no income, without income you have no profit, and without profit you soon won't have a business.  Every team member reporting for work should have one clear focus: to sell something.  That should be their focus every day.  They may not be in the sales department, but every person in your company needs to understand that everyone is in sales.  Some may be selling the product or service your company offers while others are in the business of selling your company and its brand. 

It's funny that even some salespeople do not understand how critical sales are for a business.  Such salespeople may be great at doing a sales presentation, but they forget to ask for the sale.  They work hard at developing a relationship with a possible client, but never get around asking for the sale.  Or, if they do ask for the sale, many times they make it easy for the client to say no.

Here are some things your salespeople needs to consider when talking to your clients.

1. Know your product, your client's needs, and how your product or service can better meet that need than your competitors.
2. Ask questions.  This is how you learn your client's needs.  After asking your questions, shut up and listen.  Your client will tell you what he or she wants.
3. Use their comments in your close.  Few people will reject their own ideas.
4. Sell the sizzle, not just the steak.  People are much less interested in your product or service as they are in how well your product or service will meet their needs.
5. Make it easy for your clients to do business with you.  Offer financing.  Meet with them at a time that is convenient for them, not you.  Develop policies that are client friendly.
6. Be prepared with several possible closes and use them at various times in your presentation.  If they agree to purchase your product or service, stop your presentation, take their check and get a signature.  You've already sold them.  There are no extra points for completing your presentation.
7. Accept that call backs are a part of sales.  It may take 7-8 call backs before you make the sale.  Sometimes this is the result of poor presentations or the salesperson's failure to clearly ask for the sale in an earlier presentation.  Work to lower this number.

Obviously, there is more to know about selling than what's listed here.  For a fresh approach to selling I recommend you read Dan Kennedy's book No B.S. Sales Success.  Kennedy doesn't mince words and doesn't provide his readers with a lot of fluff and theory.  His books are filled with practical advice that he has learned as an entrepreneur and business owner.  You can order the book simply by clicking on the image below.

Avoiding the mistakes

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Few things in my life have been more painful to me than when we closed our small business.  For 15 years I had managed our family owned heating and air conditioning business until we were forced to close it.  I had resisted making that decision for several years but just wasn't able to turn it around to its former profitability.  We closed it down and sold everything at auction.  Inventory and equipment went for pennies on the dollar.  

The day of the auction was one of the worst days of my life because I knew that I was the primary cause of it.  Our dream of owning a business had turned into a nightmare because of numerous mistakes I made.  Within days of the auction I began writing a book on the experience called Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions That Will Close Your Small Business.  I had learned a lot about how to manage a small business, but I learned it too late to save ours.  I felt like if I honestly told of the mistakes I had made and what I had learned from them it might help other small business owners avoid making the same mistakes.  It is far better to learn from the mistakes of others than from making them yourself.

Although I have published several books I could not interest a publisher in this one.  I think I know why.  Walk into any bookstore and check out the books in the business section and see how many of them address mistakes.  You would think from reading the titles of the books you find on most of those shelves that all you have to do is open for business and you can start making plans for your next Mediterranean vacation.  Publishers like happy, positive books.  They don't like books that explain how the author messed up and lost a business due to his stupidity.

Actually, I think my book is a positive book.  It gives positive advice on how to lead and manage a small business well.  It points out possible issues that can create problems, but after doing so give the reader good advice on how to avoid those issues.  That's positive.  It's also more realistic than what some of the business books I've read.  No small business owner will avoid all mistakes, but he or she can miss several of them if they know to expect them and if they have some idea of what to do when they do happen.  I think this book provides that which is why I decided I would release this book as an e-book on NOOK.

For over three decades I have been a minister.  Twenty of those years I served as a pastor and for the past 12 years I've been a denominational leader.  At heart I am a teacher, and this book will teach you about potential problem areas you may encounter in your business and how to address them in a constructive way.  My interest in teaching is also why I created this website and why I publish so many articles on small business leadership, entrepreneurship, and sound decision making.  I would encourage you to follow my blog as well as the articles I copy each day on Twitter and Facebook.  Every article I share may not interest you, but I bet some of them will.  If you get even a nugget from reading one of the posts it can prove to be a major contributor to your well-being.

By making the book available on NOOK devices I've been able to make it immediately available to you and to sell it for much less than what a publisher would charge for it.  I encourage you to purchase it.  I also invite you to be my friend on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to see the numerous articles I post nearly every day.  If you have questions you would like me to address please let me know, and I'll try to incorporate the answers in future posts.

Show people you care

One of my secret enjoyments is watching Bar Rescue on television.  Since the script seems to run about the same on every show I don't know how much of it is real and how much of it is staged for television, but it is still interesting to watch.  A bar is in financial trouble, the rescuer is called in who find all kinds of unbelievable problems from dead rats in the kitchen to employees who steal.  There is usually a confrontation between the bar owner and the rescuer that ends up with them shouting at each other.  There is another confrontation between the rescuer and the staff.  Experts are brought in to provide training, the bar gets a make-over, and suddenly everyone is smiling and the bar is making tons of money.  One of the things the rescuer says in nearly every episode is that until the owner cares about the business no one else will, and at least that part of the show is absolutely true.

Most small business owners begin their companies with great enthusiasm and pride, but over time the mundane demands of business, the endless details that must be addressed, the times of disappointing sales, employees that don't work out, and the challenges of trying to run a profitable business can suck the enthusiasm out of nearly everyone.  Little things begin to be ignored.  The floor isn't swept one evening which soon becomes a week.  Past due collections are ignored because too many other things are demanding the owner's time.  Phone calls are not returned promptly.  The owner starts coming in later in the morning or leaving in the middle afternoon to play golf without having resolved a potentially major issue.  Team members are watching and soon determine that the owner really doesn't care any more, and if he or she doesn't care why should they?

It's not long before they begin slacking off, violating company policies, and providing less than quality service to your customers.  You can reprimand them all you want, but this problem is really on you, the owner.  You created a climate in your business that convinced your employees you no longer cared about the company.  They were just following your example.

Small business owners must consistently demonstrate to their employees and customers how much they care about their business.  This is done by addressing even the smallest details in a timely fashion.  It's done by arriving early and leaving after everyone else does.  You show how much you care by demanding that every thing that is done in your company is done with excellence, and that excellence begins with you.  You take pride in the way you dress, the way you go about your job, and the way you relate to both your customers and employees.  You exhibit respect to everyone you meet and you treat others as you would want to be treated.  When you consistently do these things your team members will know how much you care about your company, and they will care too.

I'm afraid this is a lesson I learned the hard way.  You can read more about my own failure to show my employees how much I cared about our company in my newest  book Mistakes which is only available on NOOK.

The personal investment

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Today I had lunch at a new business in our community that recently opened its doors.  It is an art gallery with a lunch area in the back that is owned by some relatives of mine.  I had not been there yet and decided today was a good day to try out their menu.  The food was excellent and the art work was exceptionally nice.  My cousin came from the upstairs where he had been painting, saw me, and took me on a tour of the place.  Upstairs they have a guest room that is really nice for our historic community and a large banquet area.  He is finishing another section upstairs that will be their office.  We went outside where he showed me the old windows high up on the front of the large building that had been covered up years ago with boards.  He said he had spent three days scraping and cleaning those windows so he could paint them and restore the building to more of its original look.  Since buying the building late last year he has spent every waking moment cleaning, painting, and preparing it for its opening.  His pride was evident in his voice and in his eyes, and he should be proud.  The building, the food, and everything about their business was excellent.

This personal investment is what it takes to create a successful small business.  You cannot start a business and manage it half-hearted.  You have to go all-in or stay home.  We didn't talk about their financial investments, but I would assume they have a fairly large financial investment in this business, but he has even more of a personal investment in it.  He and his family have poured everything they have into making this business successful, and I believe it will succeed because of that personal commitment.

Compare that to what I see when I go into some smaller businesses today.  I walked into one shop recently and the person working there was sitting behind the counter talking on her cell phone. She never acknowledged by presence.  While I was there another customer came up to pay for her purchases and the employee rang her up while still talking on her phone.  About that time another customer came up with some items to purchase, so the employee finally said to the person on the phone, "Well, I HAVE to go, I have a customer."  (Emphasis mine)  I don't know what the other customer thought, but my impression was this employee was saying to her friend that she HAD to hang up because she HAD to wait on some customers.  I thought to myself that I didn't want to interfere with her social life so I wouldn't buy anything, and I left. 

There was no owner in sight.  I understand the owner cannot be present every moment, but he or she obviously had not taught this employee anything about customer service.  This was a business that needs the owner there every moment at least until he or she trains the employees about proper customer service.  Unless this owner gets more involved in the business it won't be open for long.  People have too many options and will take their business elsewhere where it will be better appreciated.

How committed to your business are you?  What are you willing to do to make it successful?  If you have a 9-5 commitment to it you may as well close up shop and find a job because that's all this is to you.  At least with a job you won't have the headaches that go along with ownership.  The successful businesses are the ones where the owner is all-in and completely committed to seeing it succeed.  I hope that describes you.