STOP BEING

A FIREFIGHTER!

When you undermine those

who work with you, YOU

become less effective. 

Entrepreneurs, small business and professional practice owners and managers are notorious for undermining the people they work with. They’ll ask a partner, associate or employee to handle a certain task or make contact with someone in their absence, then –an hour or two, or day or two later– will turn around and do it themselves.

Sound familiar?

______________________

I’m reminded of one of those yea/boo stories [I need a bucket to bail out the boat (boo!); ah, here’s a bucket I can use (yea!); oops, my bucket has a hole in it (boo!); the hole is in the top (yea!) . . .].

____________________

When you ask someone to do something and then whisk the job away because it wasn’t done the way you would do it or because it wasn’t done as quickly as you wanted — or worse, maybe it was already done, but instead of checking to find out, an assumption is made that it wasn’t, and the task ends up being needlessly duplicated. 

Besides that such actions are looked upon unfavorably by both internal customers (employees, investors, referrers, suppliers, lenders, advisors) and external customers (purchasers and consumers) and are considered highly unprofessional in business circles . . . the behaviors persist.

By pulling the rug out from under someone you’ve charged with a responsibility, the likelihood is great that you will also have managed to ignite fuses of discontent, frustration and neurosis.

Not to mention the not-worth-it losses you’ll suffer in credibility, respect, and reputation. 

I know personally of two employee shooting rampages attributed to having “assigned responsibilities” prematurely withdrawn, or arbitrarily reassigned. 

When you as a leader empower someone (or set someone up to become empowered), be extremely clear what needs to be done, and how (assuming there’s no room for interpretation or alternate approaches), and by when. Then go away. Don’t disenfranchise an individual that you’ve just enfranchised.

“Well,” you say, “this sounds good, but nobody else does stuff as effectively as me. If I don’t ‘ride herd’ on those I give assignments to, they’ll never get done.”

Are you really saying that you don’t trust those you’ve partnered with or hired? Is what you mean that you think you’re better than anybody else? Is what you mean that you like running around like a maniac, putting out fires?

Are you really saying that under all these pretenses, you simply don’t trust your SELF or your own judgment?

This may sound embarrassingly obvious,

 but worth the risk of mentioning anyway:

When the kinds of carelessness

that start fires to begin with,

are eliminated to start with,

you won’t need to start with

being a firefighter. 

Maybe it’s time to consider corporate life, or a job with the Post Office? Most towns have openings for roadway cone placement. Nothing to undermine. Think of all the stress you’ll spare yourself.

Entrepreneurial leadership means–among other things– that you need to trust those you’ve trusted to work with, to get the jobs done that you ask them to do, and go about your business of growing your business instead of wasting your time and energy, and everyone else’s. 

Think twice before you delegate. Make sure you are delegating to the best person to get the job done under the circumstances. Make sure you explain carefully what’s needed, and by when, and how much room there is to determine methods and techniques for getting the job done. Set “How Goes It?” follow-up plans. Trust. Walk away.

When you undermine others,

                                                you’re really undermining yourself.

# # #

  931.854.0474   Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

If you don’t know how to 

apply what you know,

you know nothing!

I saw some guest blog post somewhere today that made me laugh out loud because it naively proclaims that “expertise trumps experience” and then proceeds to flex 20-something-years-old muscle with empty rants and raves about Internet skills, from blogging to SEO and beyond.

Not being one to let sleeping dogs lie, I submit the following for your consideration:

• Younger generations have quite literally constellations worth of knowledge to offer to any given situation.

• They are born of Google and Microsoft and American Idol and Harry Potter. They are filled with energy drinks that make a cup of coffee seem like Darvon.

• We rickity old antique types watch high performance skateboarders, or teenage text message thumbs at work in astonishment — young people ooze skills that older people could never even have dreamed of possessing.

• And I do once remember hearing, at age 32, that I was “older than dirt” from a 21-year-old who was quite serious at the time. 

Yet something tugs at my sleeve. Is it per chance that discarded old notion of respect for experience?

Perhaps the tugging is because experience is almost necessarily a product of quiet reflection while “expertise” practically requires a shout from the rooftops to get the attention of others. 

Maybe I live in fantasyland, but it seems to me that –other than some phenom celebrity types: Justin and Hanna? Or the dudes who invented Twitter and Facebook– there’s really no one on that horizon of greatness that once ushered in Bill Gates and Steven Jobs.

Ah, but then this isn’t about comparing generations.

It’s about the fact that expertise means absolutely nothing if you don’t have the experience base to know how to use it productively.

No need to look much beyond the world of professional sports for a few hundred perfect examples.

The Internet? Well, aside from Al Gore’s claims to have once invented it, I believe that the “expertise” involved is in fact not with any single age or experience group, and research –even that which is distorted by Internet industry research leaders– is aptly underpinned with total age diversity in the expertise of blogging to SEO and beyond.

Ah, but then this isn’t about the Internet either, really. It’s all about the fact that regardless of all the wonderful online skills in one’s possession, not having a way to get paid for exercising them –because of lack of experience– also means absolutely nothing.

And there’s no need to look much beyond the artificial unemployment figures being cast about by self-serving politicians, who trickle on down from the White House, to clearly see a few million examples.

_____________________

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Expertise (whatever that means, and from whatever sources declare themselves to possess it) is simply a specialized knowledge base of how things happen or function.

Experience is knowing how to put that knowledge base to work to get results.

It’s pretty silly to be trying to make a case for one at the expense of the other. 

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 302.933.0116      Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Ah, yes, and yet another great 

business lesson from

Mr. Obama

Just imagine where your business would be if you kept only 24% of the promises you make. Now that may be some heavy-duty food for thought, but it shouldn’t be hard to answer the question. How about: “belly-up!”? That would probably be a realistic answer. 

The sad truth is that this 24% wasn’t plucked out of the air.

 It’s what was reported in today’s satellite radio world news as the percentage of promises that Mr. Obama made during his 2008 campaign that he has actually fulfilled.

I guess, for a politician, that’s staggeringly great, but –for you or me– we’d be out of business!

Just another reason we need to believe in (and fend for) ourselves and other small business owners. Just another reason to not trust politicians. I mean, the man was apparently counted at having made 550 some odd promises and –in the face of the good old political standby motto: “Under-Promise and Over-Deliver”– proceeded to do exactly the opposite!

Gee, great example, huh? Y’think our kids and grandkids should be taking lessons in good conduct and leadership from the man who pretends to exercise both? It’s not just a sad commentary on the times, it’s a disillusioning, amoral, disgraceful behavior pattern that surely we do not want to instill or nurture in our young people.

And, unquestionably, we cannot afford for our businesses to practice this “Promise ’em anything, but deliver less than a quarter of it” attitude. There’s just so long it can be masked with fake smiles and polished oratory. Customers will not keep lining up to buy anything. It is just not the way that honorable and smart businesspeople behave.

Even though voters have proven themselves utterly stupid time and time again, customers aren’t stupid.

Money straight from the pocket (even if it’s just a bunch of nickles) is more carefully analyzed and evaluated than the trillions none of us can relate to that slowly drain our assets and resources over decades.

So what’s a small business owner to do? Keep exercising caution as you spend, but –more importantly– exercise integrity. Be honest in your dealings with others. Win a reputation for it. Keep your promises. At all costs, even when you end up dented, honor your commitments. Deliver what you say you’re going to deliver.

And stand up for yourself, and for the authenticity you use to conduct your business, by taking a leadership role in representing to your elected officials –from your town hall to the White House– that you will no longer stand for deception and manipulation and outright lying about what will be delivered. Intentions alone don’t win OR work! 

Nip corruption and empty promises in the bud! Make more of an effort every day to serve as an example to others of what you believe is possible for your business and your industry or profession . . . and your government. When enough of us do it, enough others will sit up and pay attention.

There are 30 million small business owners in America. Surely we can make a difference. It starts with you, today and tomorrow morning. 

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Mixed in with your Employees,

Customers, Vend0rs, SalesReps,

Investors: is a “Psycho” or two!

Channel-surfing the other night, a woman addicted for over twenty years to daily feasting on toilet paper! I was promptly reminded that there are weirdos everywhere, and the business world is no exception. Thankfully, I never had to work with the likes of a TP-eating sicko, but I have had to deal with some genuine head cases, and guess what?

The task is not as impossible as it may seem at first. The key is to separate yourself emotionally from the smoking volcano. Rise above it and give it as much space and patience as possible.

You don’t want to be a shrink?

Sometimes in life, when you’ve directly or indirectly chosen to box yourself into an undesirable situation, there’s no choice.

On those occasions (which hopefully are rare), turn on your alert system without setting off any alarms. Tune in to what’s in front of you. Take some deep breaths to help yourself get focused. Contact your inner “adult” — the part of you that’s calm and caring and empathetic but that’s –as Thoreau once urged us to be– forever on the alert.

Recognize that your self-identity (how you see yourself) needs to step back and your personality (how others see you) needs to step up. People who are in difficult emotional or mental states (or physically ill or injured) will rarely have any interest in what you think of yourself. It’s difficult for them to think much beyond their own skin.

If you’ve ever had any practice with a cranky baby or temper tantrum toddler, you’re way ahead of the game.

Instead of trying to override or overpower a troubled individual, try to “buy into” a compatible level of relating and then exercise a gently persistent adult-like tone. Without being bossy or pushy or demanding, simply be rational and understanding. Be persuasive by not allowing yourself to get drawn into the other person’s dilemma or issues.

Does all this take time and effort? Is it hard work?

Hey, do shrinks get burned out?

It’s definitely not a frame of mind you want to be in for any lengthy period of time, but it’s also one that –if you make up your mind to commit your energy to assisting someone else instead of thinking about yourself– gives you an opportunity to help an unbalanced someone to gain enough stability to function without the presence of threat.

If your own personality tends to be explosive, you may want to stay in your rubber room and not deal with others at all, but then, you wouldn’t be much of a leader, would you? Business success requires leadership at every level, not just sales or just innovative thinking or just financial management. People are your most important asset!

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Reported today on Sirius radio’s America’s Newsroom . . .

One of every eight American

homes now stands empty! 

Based on today’s news . . .

This “one out of eight” no doubt

includes The White House!

Double-speak –such as that evidenced in tonight’s feeble address by Mr. Obama in attempting to justify his unauthorized headstrong reaction (instead of a measured response) to the challenges and sickness of another nation’s madman leader– doesn’t work for America’s people.

And guess what? Double-speak also doesn’t work for the business you own and/or run and/or manage.

Small business owners, first of all, know instinctively how to practice responding instead of reacting.

If we don’t, we’re out of business. Period.                

• It is lack of leadership that has emptied American homes. It is lack of leadership that has led America to falter and approach other nations balanced on weak knees.

• Lack of leadership is what brings down business enterprises and national governments alike. Clearly, America’s White House is as empty as the two suits that run our country.

• Lack of leadership, in the form of poor management, is responsible for 9 out of 11 new businesses failing within the first 2-3 years of existence (source: The SBA)  

~~~~~~~~

We —as small business owners and managers, and entrepreneurs– must learn from this place in history.

Incompetent leadership cannot be covered up with great oratory and superficial reasoning. We, the electorate see through it. While the facade pictures that are verbally painted may convince those who know not how to think for themselves, they no longer appease or hook those with intelligence.

When we cover up business incompetence, we lose customers; we go bankrupt. We lose.

If you or I were to run our businesses with the same Johnny-come-lately, wimpy, and universally arrogant intervention approaches that were expressed tonight by Mr. Obama, God bless us all.

He has done everything possible to undermine and smother small business because he fails utterly to understand it. He has in the process led us into world disgrace. His assessments –in addition to being unrealistic– are inflammatory to say the least. Talk about pouring gasoline on a fire!

You and I cannot make our business problems go away by giving a political speech and calling it an “explanation.”

We cannot avert financial collapse by offering endless apologies (or simply printing new money!).

We cannot achieve success by concentrating on competitors. 

Sad and unfortunate as it is, thousands of people die every day by acts of terrorism. When –and before– those forces become genuine threats to our existence, we need to act quickly and decisively and unapologetically to protect and preserve our interests.

Do we like what’s happening in Libya? Of course not. But Libya offers no such threat to America. The more the U.S. tries to become the world’s police force, the less effective the U.S. becomes. The more your business tries to monopolize a profession, industry, or marketplace, the less effective it becomes. But you already know that!

Do we like what all our competitors are doing. Of course not. Do we engage them apologetically and make that be productive for us? Are you kidding? Those who succeed in business are those who focus on their businesses, not on what other businesses are doing, or not doing, that may be distasteful. 

When it’s possible to help other businesses without putting your own at risk, go for it! Until then, strengthen yourself so you can get to that point. That works for business and business works! Being consistently authentic and honest and demonstrating integrity works for business too. Will shallow-minded ego-crazed politicians ever get it?    

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302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Let’s get real,

Entrepreneurs!

There’s not much room

left on this planet

for more anger!

We can moan and groan all we want –and justifiably– about the pathetic, ill-conceived, mismanaged, misdirected, arrogant, naive, incompetent, overbearing, scathingly stupid behaviors fostered by the White House since 2008. It adds up to total lack of leadership and complete lack of vision . . . a branding program of anti-reality.

But bitching gets us nowhere. Attacking people personally for their attitudes and behaviors makes us no more reasonable than they are, and doesn’t achieve anything beyond stirring up more anger.

Anger doesn’t work.

It’s not working in Libya, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Northern Ireland, or -today– not in London either. Certainly, it has never worked in the United States. It only serves to shorten fuses and make things worse.

Yes, we, as business owners and managers, have had enough. We are fed up with meaningless run-off-at-the-mouth oratory and reckless spending of our hard-earned tax dollars. We are fed up with attempts to have creeping socialism overpower democracy, our Constitution, and the free-enterprise system that built America.

Hope, Mr. Obama,

doesn’t work either.

It’s time for the federal government to back off and abandon its incessant attempts to smother small business. It is time instead to support the small business owner and startup entrepreneur world if there is ever to be a true economic recovery.

It is simply not true that America’s economy has turned the corner. Falsified unemployment numbers and make-believe claims that home sales are up and foreclosures are down couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Reality is that unemployment continues to worsen. Foreclosures continue to go up. Home sales continue to go down. And a rocket science degree isn’t required to size-up the impact on our daily lives; we need only to look at the gas pumps.

We are being lied to by government-controlled media stooges and greedy union thugs.

Yes we feel angry, but we are smarter than those who pose as leaders, and their contingent of talking heads. We know in our hearts that achievement and accomplishment will not be sidetracked if we maintain balance and control of the businesses we own and operate and birth. 

By working hard AND smart, by never forgetting that America is the product of entrepreneurial growth and our ever-guiding national motto:

“In God We Trust”

. . . by honoring and respecting all who we encounter, including the ignorant, we who own and manage small and family and home and garage businesses can lead America from the darkness of anger and fantasy.

____________________

It will take perseverance and it will take speaking up for what’s right instead of complaining about what’s wrong. Can we turn our anger into productivity? Are you willing to work harder at it?

What can you do to get started now, today?

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302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Seek healthier

                        

relationships?

                                 

Want to lower

                              

your stress, BP,

                                         

chronic pain, risk

                            

of addiction? Wishing

                       

you could grow your

                           

business now to where

                            

you want it to be?

Yes, my friend,”

you are told as you stand glassy-eyed in the vegetable aisle of the supermarket, leaning dumbfounded over your wire shopping cart, “you can have all this and more!” the man shouts.

You expect a crack of lightning and rumble of thunder to follow as he reaches toward the heavens and then steps down toward you from his platform and proceeds to sell you a 27-piece set of stainless knives for just $9.95!

Well, who knows whether a set of knives can turn your life around. Nothing surprises me anymore. Oh, except for one thing: finding out that all the benefits above (and more!) really can be yours when you are able to bring yourself to forgive yourself.

In a whole series of studies conducted over the last 3-4 years at the Mayo Clinic, prayer is believed to facilitate forgiveness, and forgiveness (especially self-forgiveness) may hold the key to a healthier state of well-being, and longer, healthier, happier lives.

How come everyone doesn’t know this or do it? Ignorance may account for the majority of the world’s population not knowing or practicing this thinking. Of those who understand, not everyone accepts the values of prayer.

And even among those who do accept the ability of prayer to heal, not all of them believe that forgiving others –and especially themselves— could possibly enhance their own physical, spiritual and emotional well-being.

Don’t go getting

your entrepreneurship

in an uproar!

This is not a Bible study blog.

I am not an Evangelist.

It’s safe to keep reading.

The bottom line on credibility, by the way, is to simply Bing or Google Mayo Clinic studies on forgiveness, and check out what you find. Suffice it to say that the conclusions drawn certainly seem to make sense to a great many successful business owners I’ve known.

Every human being carries burdens of having done something wrong and/or harmful –in error or intentionally. Such burdensome experiences bury themselves deep within us as we move on with the clock and the calendar and the rush of Earthly existence.

We may keep these upsets tucked away forever until some event triggers us enough to bring them back to the surface, or to implode in, for example, the form of a heart attack, or explode from within as hostility or aggressive behavior, or lie dormant to rise one day as suicide.

The situations and events we choose not to forgive can paralyze and erode parts of our brains and inhibit some of the freedom of our movements.

Many of us torture ourselves over and over, day after day, year after year . . . for perhaps one instant of bad judgement.

To choose to take some action about forgiveness of others and forgiveness of ourselves moves us a giant step closer to productive leadership, and raises the prospects of growing our businesses to where we want them to be, to where we believe they are capable of being.

If prayer leads us to forgiveness, and forgiveness leads us to healthier relationships, lower stress and blood pressure, less chronic pain and less risk of addiction, then we become better stronger leaders. Happy, healthy, positive business leaders who have chosen forgiveness of themselves and others as a path are those who succeed.

If your business is not where you believe it could or should be right now, consider yourself the catalyst for change by taking action now to strengthen your self. Have you tried prayer? (Seriously, or token tinkering?) Have you prayed for forgiveness for yourself and for others?

What’s have you got to lose by not trying? Your business? Your life? Eternity in hell? 

# # #

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

Thanks, Angela Current www.ClassicResumes.com, for today’s topic

PUT AN “X” THROUGH IT!

It’s never easy to balance two large critical chunks of your daily existence –like your work and your exercise– without experiencing some feelings of inadequacy, and wondering if you’re cheating yourself.

Why can’t I make both of these things work? What do I have to do to make both pieces fit my daily timeline? Life is no longer feeling like a series of opportunity windows . . . it’s more like locking and unlocking prison gates. HELP!

There are no magic-trick answers. What there is, is discipline. And self-imposed discipline is the hardest to follow. Grumble though we may, it’s almost always easier to follow someone else’s schedule of discipline.

“Your report is needed for a 3pm meeting,” says the boss. “Two more laps around the track!” yells the coach. “Parade Rest!” orders the CO. 

Ah, but all of those external discipline situations include real or imagined consequences for failure.

So?

You’re saying you can only perform when there’s a perceived threat involved?

Maybe you need a shrink?

You use self-discipline to get through every hour of every day. It’s called living a mature and responsible life. What you make of your self-imposed discipline is what draws the line in the sand between your existence and productivity and achievements, and the existence, productivity, and achievements of others

If you’re an extremist, you might be choosing three hours a day, seven days a week, of pumping iron. This can of course severely cut into any kind of reasonable work schedule, and this is not even to mention the time that must be used to be selecting, preparing, and eating the specialized diet that needs to accompany such a commitment.

But hopefully you’ve figured out how to harness your compulsiveness by combining interests — by running or managing a gym, or functioning as a personal trainer or exercise physiologist or physical therapist, or perhaps by being a professional or Olympic athlete.

Now this may be an even bigger stretch, but let’s assume instead that you are fairly “normal” (HA! and you’re reading this?)

Okay, you’re a typical entrepreneur who’s preoccupied with making your business idea work; you put in longer business hours than most of your friends and family.

And you’re trying to maintain a reasonable exercise schedule, right?

As with anything in life, success doesn’t drop from the sky. You must apply yourself. In this case, you must set up your own disciplined approach to doing the kinds and amounts of exercise that you believe you need (or that a healthcare professional has prescribed), and commit your mind and attitude to working around that!

Put exercise times down on your calendar for every day you decide you need to exercise.

Pick times (usually best kept consistent from day to day) that do not interfere with essential work hours. For most, early mornings fit best; some prefer early evenings (late evenings are not generally recommended by professionals); others use their lunchtimes to exercise, and nibble healthy snacks throughout the day rather than sit-down lunches.

Some set flex schedules.

The point is that once you choose the times, record them on your daily calendar — put an X through the time slots involved.

Then work everything else in your life around those X’s.

Unless it’s an emergency situation, simply elect to not schedule any meetings or conference calls in those X-boxed times.

Make excuses if need be, but protect those Xs because they are indicators of investment you are smartly choosing to make in your SELF. No one but you can do this. And no one but you can make it work. Reinforce your X hours by watching and/or listening to motivational programs. And keep marking your calendar, always  a month in advance.

Oh, by the way, when you’re occasionally forced to miss an Xd-out time block, don’t torture yourself. Make it up as best you can, when you can. It’s not the end of the world. It’s an opportunity to make adjustments.

# # #

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

In business and life:

THINGS AREN’T

ALWAYS WHAT

THEY SEEM

The business world is filled

with its share of illusionists.

Look in the mirror. Are you

coughing from the smoke?

We are under relentless media bombardment of fake unemployment numbers. The make-believe news has risen to howling proportions. It’s the White House’s feeble attempt to have us all swallow that the economy is on the upswing (which failure to confirm requires, merely, a trip to your nearest gaspump, with $8 a gallon coming soon to you!).

Just the word “gaspump” puts a gasp in your ump, right?

Probably because it prompts you to remember the last guy who ripped you off.

(Am I imaging this? I doubt it!)

Looking back to November, 2008, should remind us all that in business as well as government (and all of life!), what you see is not always what you get!

                                           

Though most of us think the Latin phrase “Caveat Emptor” — Let the buyer beware— first surfaced in the Ralph Nader consumerism movement of the 1960s, the birth of its use was in fact claimed in 1523, would you believe? So, bottom line here is that deception in business has been around for awhile.

Talk with anyone who sailed through the last few years of the “Dot Gone” Revolution in the 1990s, and you’ll hear sad tales of almost jumping out of tall buildings. I lost $500,000 with a legal signed contract in hand. Another family member lost $1.5 million with a signed contract in hand. The lesson? Signed documents mean nothing!

Where does that leave us? Having to be V~E~R~Y cautious about others we do business with. I’m not so much talking about customers (though big-ticket product and service customers have been known to take what they can and run). I’m really referring more to employment and investor and loan arrangements — big bucks deals!

But I’m also keying in on small business ripoffs that cost big-time hours and effort.

Those are the real killers of entrepreneurial spirit!

I need to make sales to eat.

It’s often hard to do due diligence on a small-time business down the road or in the next town enough to find out that the owner is a scam artist, looking to con as much information from your brain as possible, for free!

Experience has taught me some, but –in the end– I still have to sell my services. Selling services requires giving services. You can sample the pastrami in a deli, but any kind of consultant (except maybe a pastrami consultant) has to provide a sampling of know-how and experience, and that takes time. And time costs money.

So figuring out how to best parcel out samples of your expertise in order to hook the fish but not lose your shirt is the ultimate challenge. And you may never win if you don’t approach prospects with reserved skepticism. I’m not suggesting distrust. I trust everyone until they prove otherwise. I’m talking about being yellow-light-cautious. 

Not everyone has your integrity. Not everyone believes in God. Not everyone functions completely on her or his own. (You’ve heard of silent partners? Wives? In-laws?)

There’s not a whole lot we can do about gas prices, but we always have control of whom we choose to do business with. Yellow lights are only followed by red lights!

Stay alert. Don’t get hurt!

# # #

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

To and from work, are you

wide-eyed and bushy-tailed

… or in a trance-like state?

DOES IT MATTER? Well, does your job attitude matter? Your family attitude? What goes on with you in that little Twilight Zone commuting-to-and-fro time window? Are you looking and acting like you just stepped out of (or into) some weird, skin-crawling Steven King story? How does your daily commute impact your business? Career? Family?

Or, hey, maybe you’re hop-skip-jumping along in time to your happy whistling? (Hmmm, hard to remember the last time I heard someone whistle. Once it was commonplace, but now suggests serial-killer symptoms.) Or, no, I was, well, I was  going to substitute “humming” but that’s come to signal readiness for being committed, y’think?

I’m asking all these questions because I have been, alternatively: a tiger, a puppy-dog, and a zombie commuting to, from, and through a wide variety of career pursuits.

I’ve run the proverbial gamut of commuter vehicle experiences from choppers to car pools, and here’s some of what I found . . .

Years of Fortune 500 corporate client travels and commuter trains so jam-packed and smoke-filled, I often gave up a seat to stand, freezing, between the deafening, open-air train car connection spaces (an hour each way on those rare occasions when schedules were actually met), hanging on for dear life. And I won’t even mention the rain.

Ah, yes, and there was always at least one time when briefcase snaps failed or a coffee lid wasn’t secured!

Those enlightening death-defying train rides definitely fed appreciation like no other for the plastic suburbs and phony weekend-warrior neighbors.

I mean imagine racing home from the railroad station to screaming kids, barking dogs, complaints about dinner being cold and a mountain of bills. 

But, alas, those late arrival, go-getter young executives –after working long past punch-out time, in efforts to excel and earn more– often found that state of pandemonium a welcome greeting!

                                                       

In fact, it was almost a treat compared to straddling the clanking, jerking, bucklings that connected the stinking (slippery when wet) rail-cars after a stressful workday.

Then there were years of driving (and standing still on “expressways”) and tolls, bridges, bus fumes, and broken windshield wipers. I wonder how many hours wasted away waiting in lines and at traffic lights and in (cough!cough!cough!) claustrophobic tunnels. No, never mind, I really don’t want to know. It would make me crazier than I am.

So, take a taxi! Yeah, right! Talk about crazy. Besides that drivers must have to pass a taxi test that proves they can’t speak English, they all have their little trade secrets about longer routes to take passengers who are in a hurry, more dangerous routes to take passengers who look nervous, etc. Taxi? No thanks! 

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Besides, I ditched all that nonsense years ago when I took the big leap off of payrolls and benefit plans and came crashing to Earth as (Ta-ta-ta-ta-tah-tah!) . . . poorer than a ragged beggar, more headstrong than the bull in front of the Stock Exchange, able to leap onto prospective clients in a single bound . . . Look! . . . Up in the air! . . . It’s . . . It’s a corporate mogul . . . it’s a pocket-padding politician . . . NO! IT’S ENTREPRENEURMAN!

Yup, that’s me! Shucks! You’d never recognize that frazzled commuter anymore. Now I just run up and down the stairs to my basement office, bathrobe aflutter, with an armful of pantry snacks, writing fool that I am, remembering the good old commuter days, and being soooo thankful to be struggling in small business with big happiness!

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

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