Archive for the 'Politics/Gov’t' Category

Oct 02 2010

BUSINESS OWNER CHOICES

Tough or Tender?

steak

You know what 100% of meat-eaters prefer, and what most lovers prefer, but when it comes to running a successful business in a near catastrophic economy, there’s little room for being tender. Is it like reaching the point with a drug addict to abandon “Tough Love” tactics?

Killer economy business owners have to be tough to hold on.

They also have to be tough to let go.

Either way–unlike government and corporate life or professional sports– there’s no one else to blame.

There’s no one else to step in and take over, and nobody else to pick you up.

Gloomy, huh?

Sure, there’s always the lottery, but real entrepreneurs don’t gamble because the risk is not reasonable. So what’s a struggling business owner to do, fire yourself? Maybe. Maybe not.

You probably won’t accomplish much by firing yourself, but you might accomplish a great deal by –instead– taking stock in yourself. Start with the assumption that you have what it takes to make things work. After all, you’ve already gotten this far, right?

  1. Take back that attitude you had when you first started your business. Remember, that one where you relied on your SELF? You did whatever it took to nurture your ingenuity, persistence, gumption, stick-to-itiveness, determination…and all those other qualities?
  2. Realize and accept that you can only rely on your SELF when you keep yourself in touch, day-to-day, with your own personal strengths and weaknesses. Be constantly on the alert to what they are and how they change. Adjust them and your SELF to fit changing times and situations, and to prompt opportunities to rise to the surface.
  3. Remember that you have an important responsibility on Election Day to vote — and before that, to promote others to vote — for the kinds of sweeping changes nationwide that are clearly required and called for to recognize small business as the key to economic survival.

The current Congress and Administration most assuredly do not have your best interests or those of our national economy at heart. It does not require brain surgery expertise to see that small business creates probably close to 90% of all new jobs in the U.S.

Collectively, however, our political leaders lack business experience at every level, and have recklessly misspent and misappropriated billions of tax dollars in attempting to shore up misguided corporate entities, and bolster a social agenda that’s frivolous at best considering the continued plunge of unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure rates.

These destructive measures have been at the expense of a balanced budget, at the expense of the vast majority of Americans, and in the face of small business owners’ attempts to make things work. We need to get back on track –swiftly– with REAL tax incentives to small business for job creation (not SBA tokenism buried under reams of complex paperwork).

Your role in this is much more important than you may have thought.

Exert your influence to bring people into office –regardless of party affiliation– who will stop the tax and spend mentality in its tracks.

                                                                                          

America needs representatives who will appreciate the sacrifices and values of small business ownership, and use that appreciation to see that jobs are created  . . . to begin to own up to the realities of what needs to be done to turn the tide of this devastating economy.

# # #

 931.854.0474 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!

2 responses so far

Sep 28 2010

SALES STRATEGY

A to Z and Soup to Nuts

                                      

…Maybe. But maybe not.

Are you trying to have your business

be all things to all people?

 

It’s easy to see why any business owner would choose, or be tempted to choose, a path of omnipresence.

First in the line of reasons is the motivation to survive a continually worsening economy (spawned by the federal government’s continuing business incompetence, and aggravated by its dumb and dumber insistence that the recession ended last June!).

Reasons enough to drive any entrepreneur scrambling up the wall of desperation.

Second, we need look no further for examples of others making “Sales Offering Sprawl” work, than to tune in to the examples offered by many product-based companies.

Traditional product specialization offerings have been sidetracked, integrated, absorbed, and demolished.

In retail and online businesses alone, we can barely keep up as consumers with where’s the best place to buy what.  

We’ve watched drugstores evolve over the past generation from independent prescription pharmacies supplemented by inventories of OTC (over-the-counter) drugs and some limited HBA (health & beauty aids) products, plus maybe a 6-stool soda fountain and some penny candy, into today’s behemoth supermarket and electronic warehouse (even furniture) chains that seem to sell everything under the sun.

Most notable of course is the inclusion of complete in-store professionally staffed medical facilities — and the forerunner of that: tucking entire pharmacies under the same roofs, as a number of industry-leading retail giants have done.

So why wouldn’t it seem appropriate to aspire to include a little bit of everything under your own roof?

Maybe it is appropriate, but don’t just think so and then do it. Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks. That “Best Guess” path is not a wise or reasonable risk. Take the time and trouble and energy and expense to define, set up and run focus group discussions with target clients/customers to determine what they really think instead of what you think they think.

Design a strategic plan. It need

 not be fancy, but it needs to exist.

The good news is that if the November elections can produce enough upstart representation by people who understand that new small businesses are the nation’s only source of job creation and that job creation is the only way to turn the economic tide, business can be more free-market and free-wheeling and more competitive again.

But the bad news is that until that point actually occurs (probably 2-3 years away at best), decision making about what your business is in business to sell needs to be more cautious and needs to be based on more than opinion.

Service businesses are not product businesses.

B to B businesses are not B to C businesses.

Avoid getting caught in that tangled tidal wave of confusion by sticking to what you specialize in, by developing strategic plans for how to proceed and by encouraging more than SBA lip-service and make-believe assistance to small businesses.

# # #

 Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Sep 27 2010

Nickel-and-Dime Outsourcing

Stop trying to cut

                                                                     

the wrong corners! 

 

If you’re like many others who run a business these days, you are being extremely careful with operating expenses and have turned a deaf ear to literally any kind of investments. With respect to that attitude, I’ve heard that if something can go without saying, don’t say it, but I’ll say it anyway:

                                                                       

It’s great to be careful with your money for however much longer it takes government to figure out that small businesses, not monster corporations, are the ones that create jobs, and the ones that will turn the economy around (a year or two or three?).

But it’s not great to turn yourself into Scrooge McSkinflint with every cost that comes your way, especially professional outsourcing fees!. 

                                                   

When you turn outside your enterprise to hire an expert consultant or performer — writer, designer, accountant, lawyer, staff trainer, turn-around specialist, management coach, programmer, architect, engineer, marketing whiz all come to mind — it’s because you’ve come to realize you can’t do it all yourself, that nobody is really qualified “in house,” and that you need some proven experience.

So there should be little question of value here, unless you haven’t done your homework screening prospects. Remember these are people whose entire lives are devoted to practicing the specialty you need help with. Professionals.

Bringing professional help to bear on your business needs, or to accelerate performance faster than it’s possible to do on your own, is not a decision that should be made lightly, but — once it’s made:

1)  Don’t expect outside providers to tell you how they’ll meet your needs or solve your problems as part of your selection process in order to have their services considered for meeting your needs or solving your problem (unless you pay them for that time and effort).

Do you give away time, talent, products and services to someone who says she or he might be interested in dealing with you

Professionals who are treated

professionally respond professionally.

                                                                          

2)  Don’t try to cut corners on fees because you’ll only be cheating yourself. Outsource consultants and performers deliver what they’re paid to deliver.

The old adage is true that you get what you pay for. If you truly can’t afford the expertise, don’t pretend you can and then haggle on price…unless you want to haggle on the results!

                                                                    

Outside professionals will not be upset with you wanting to cut a deal, as long as it’s a reasonable win-win arrangement.

When instead of $1,000 fee for a task, you try to nickel-and-dime it down to $500, even if you win, you lose; you’ll get $100 worth of effort. 

On the other hand, offering to pay $500 instead of $1000 with a measurable performance incentive of an additional $1000 is the kind of deal that will usually merit some good faith consideration. And isn’t it always worth paying one-X extra when someone’s efforts produce two-X extra? 

There are many places where it’s in your best interests to be a tightwad when reviewing your overhead and operations expenditures, but hiring proven, experienced, professional expertise is not one of them. I’ve been on both sides of the fence hundreds of times. People who reward performance well get exceptional performance.

 

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!

No responses yet

Sep 20 2010

The Inner Game of Business

Seeing Yourself Win

                                 

At Business,

                                        

Makes It Happen!

(And when you can make it happen, you can make a difference!)

 

Yes, business is a game.And let’s face it, there’s probably never been a more exasperating, more struggling time in American history than right now to try and launch or rocket-boost a business. The economy is in shambles and continues to sink daily.

It is unfortunately only going to continue to get worse until something more substantial than lip-service is paid to the stimulation of small business job creation. This will take real and significant tax incentives extended to entrepreneurs. Small businesses that have been laying around for years are the economy’s engines, but new entrepreneurial enterprises are the fuel!

New businesses create jobs. Job creation is (for the zillionth time on this blog site) the ONLY solution to our ever-sinking economy.

The Administration lacks business experience and knowhow to the point of patheticness (even if there’s no such word, that’s what it is). 

To have even thought that “stimulus” (tax dollar) money for corporate giants was the answer, is both naive and dumb.

To think that the nonstop reckless spending patterns being flaunted by government, and that politically-motivated tax increase and ill-conceived healthcare proposals represent an answer, is pure lunacy. They simply serve to compound the financial collapse of those very businesses that hold the key to revitalization.

How does an entrepreneur with a new venture face employee healthcare requirements and increased taxes with every innovation that has the potential to create jobs?

Competitive businesses (are there any other kind?) are beating each other’s brains in. Strategic alliances and collaborative efforts have made valiant efforts to rise above the fray — trying to cooperate, lock arms, hold hands, and march shoulder-to-shoulder was a nice diversion as times got tighter, but those are just new game applications. They don’t change the basic free-market-enterprise-doing-business-to-make-a-profit game!

And what else is business for but to innovate, create jobs, and make a profit?

Social reform? Sure, that’s great when it’s affordable.

History has proven at every turn that social causes underwritten by businesses that stand solidly on strong financial foundations are more successful than those causes underwritten from a position of weakness.

How can you truly help less fortunate people and causes when you are struggling to pay your own bills? Charity must come from the heart, but effective large-scale charity must also come from financial strength.

The bottom line remains that it takes sales to produce revenues and it takes revenues to pay overhead and open the door to profits. The problem with all this is that government controls strangle business sales initiatives. And corporate bailouts were a failure-ready-to-happen before they ever happened. Their sole accomplishment was to increase the deficit by adding more debt.

What options are left? If you own or run a new business (since 2001), your best option is to make a winner of your business by seeing it be a winner every day and every night, every waking hour possible (after personal, family, spiritual and community time).

That means closing your eyes and “seeing” the customers you want coming in your door or to your site. It means imagining each growth step taking place, including employee loyalty and leadership development, bank deposits being made, bill payments becoming a minor event, investments in operations and job creation zooming. Then, fully supporting the charity of your choice.

Every great athlete and sports psychologist will tell you that seeing yourself in your mind as a winner, doing winning things in winning ways, produces victory. It’s no different for business owners, except there may be more diversions to deal with. But when all is said and done, you become what you think about, and so does your business!

Try it. Be Tenacious. You’ll like it. It works. 

# # #

931.854.0474     Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

2 responses so far

Sep 14 2010

ENTREPRENEURS REHAB

Your business has just been 

                                               

beaten up. NOW what?????

 

The Small Business ER. Paperwork. Name? Date of birth? sole proprietorship, Sub-S or LLC? Address? History of ailments? Next of kin? Organ donor? 

The Business Doctor. A diagnostic work-up. What seems to be the problem? Take a deep breath! http://bit.ly/bo3ZJy Where does it hurt? Let’s see – does this hurt? 

What did you do, get mugged on the way to a sales presentation?

No insurance? Hmmmm. Ah, Helen, let’s see if we can slide this business in under some kind of federal coverage — maybe one of those stimulus plans?

Sooooo, the good news is you’re not gonna die from this. Take your business home, ice it, give it aspirin and lots of rest; keep the bank loans floating, drink prune juice and call me in the morning.

In the meantime, I’m giving you a rehab prescription — you’ll need physical and mental therapy both, but it may only be for six months to a year.

If by then, things haven’t straightened out, we’ll need to do some MRIs and consider a frontal lobotomy, or we may decide it’s just best for you to simply fold your venture and go to work for the government or a large corporation …which would be something like a lobotomy anyway.

Someone here to drive you? Good. You should feel better in a year or two. Have a great day! 

 

Yuh! Well, things could be worse, said the bloated cow that hadn’t been milked for three days.

The point is that very little compares with the mental anguish, and painful feelings associated with your business taking a beating at the hands of incompetent government agencies, overly-aggressive industry or professional competition, the two-faced-forked-tongue media, the IRS, or your cousin Vinny.

But YOU are an ENTREPRENEUR! Everybody calls you that. You have a reputation to uphold. You’re a free spirit. Nothing gets you down (well, almost nothing).

So the bottom line is that it’s time to get up off the floor (or examination room gurney) and pick up the pieces and set some new goals that are realistic, specific, flexible, and have a due date. http://bit.ly/95XCJN

Yes, it’s true that entrepreneurs typically do not like to plan anything, but the point here is that when your business and/or business ideas have been assaulted, and you’re thinking about chucking it all and heading for the islands, you need to PLAN.

Most recoveries of any type do not generally occur miraculously. They take planning. http://bit.ly/c4puBz Just as you set goals for yourself when you started your business, set them anew for making a recovery.

You CAN do this.

You know why? Because it’s a choice! http://bit.ly/9GydiP 

 

www.TWWsells.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!

No responses yet

Aug 30 2010

DECISIONS, DECISIONS . . .

First and third OR

                             

first and reverse?

                                            

Given the enviable place to have runners when you’re up (first base and third base), you might think tonight’s post is another baseball story, or first down and a reverse hand-off in football . . . Sorry, sports fans: This one’s about an unusual car, and your unusual business decisions . . . but that’s getting a step ahead; let’s get back to the car. 

I once had a choice of gear combinations for a car I was purchasing. I needed something to get back and forth to college, back and forth to work, and back and forth to parties (some things never change!). A friend of mine, Joe, had THE car for me!

It was an all-black 1954 Sunbeam Talbot 90. Now you may think that sounds like it should be on  the kitchen counter for blending your okra and lima bean smoothies, but it was a car — a classic luxury vehicle in England in its heyday.

It had a sunroof, leather interior, rumble seat, running boards along each side, a hidden pull-out bar in the back, fog lights, six hidden compartments, and barely a mark. It was only a few hundred dollars “because it had a little gear problem,” but “had to be seen,” Joe said. He was right. It was a dream car. Almost.

The “little gear problem” meant I would have to make a decision. I could have only first gear and third gear, OR only first gear and reverse gear. Hmmm. First and third meant revving the thing up to 20-25 mph (which sounded like a dozen weedwhackers in flight), and then quickly “pop” it into third gear (it had “Synchromesh” for gear shifting with some ease) and cruise along, having completely by-passed the missing second gear.

OR . . . I could have first gear and reverse gear – always a good thing, said Joe, in case I ever needed to back up! I asked about speed, but was advised that “something had to go” and I could only have one or the other. With first and reverse, I would of course be able to parallel park, and get out of sticky situations (a date’s driveway?) without having to get out and push.

I could floor it in first and get to the weed-whacker noise level, then pop it into neutral and coast to a crawl, then pop it back into first and floor it again, etc. I took first and reverse. My decision didn’t please a lot of other drivers, but I couldn’t imagine never needing to go backwards.

Has your business been forced to go backwards in this economy? Were you prepared for it? Were you barreling along going forward when you first saw the telltale signs of government incompetence rewarding big dumb companies for doing everything wrong instead of smart small businesses for doing things right? Did you have to shake your head like a wet dog? Are you still?

Decisions that plan for future disaster (building an underground bomb shelter, investing in emergency crank-up radios with every news item about increased awareness of terrorist “chatter,” taking a loss on eBay for your world series ticket options for the Cubs and the Mets) are not always the best to actually implement, but thinking through contingency arrangements is always a good thing.

Developing an exit strategy for a brand new business is like having a pre-nuptual agreement. It seems like a stupid negative influence at the moment of highest positive attitude. It flies in the face of gut instinct. But it is not a bad idea, and it will almost always be of primary concern to any person or entity who is investing in the new business. 

Leave your self and your business “wiggle room.” You may not need to build a bomb shelter, but you’d better know where to go  and when if the business/market/industry or profession you’re involved with, or your state/region/nation continues to step deeper into an economical abyss. Have a plan. Keep it in your pocket. But have one. You might need to back up a little some day. 

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

 

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!

No responses yet

Aug 29 2010

What are YOUR “Best Business Interests”?

What you target

                                          

for your business

                                     

may not be healthy!

                                  

Think of it this way: You really want a bacon-wrapped sausage smothered in melted cheese on a slice of buttered white bread with side orders of scrapple and syrup, chili cheese fries , Buffalo wings and onion rings with ranch dressing, finished off with deep-fried cream-filled chocolate cookies and a glass of buttermilk . . .

                                                                                       

Uh, if that description makes your mouth water and you decide to head out to some nearby junk-food drive-in, make it one that’s very close to the Arizona, Indiana or Pennsylvania Heart Institutes, or the Mayo Clinic, and be sure your health insurance is paid up! “C’mon, Hal,” you say, “nobody is that dumb who would eat like that.” I have 2-words for you: Observe People!

Not only does stupidity find it’s way to the dinner table (or car-hop tray…yes, there are still car-hops!), but it’s also often used as an excuse for not knowing better because the excuse-giver is too preoccupied being a workaholic to worry about stuff like tumors, and fat, and stents, and clots, and cancer. But being smart doesn’t mean being worried. Worry only achieves stress.

Why all of this banter? Because many small business owners and entrepreneurs who do take care of themselves and who at least make an effort to eat and sleep right, fail miserably when it comes to sizing up what’s best for their businesses. Some who do a nice job of being realistic enough to recognize their own mortality seem to think their businesses are invincible.

                                                                                              

“Whaddaya mean this is a bad time for a bank loan? Can’t you see that this idea of mine will revolutionize the whole wind-shield wiper blade industry?”

“These services my family and I have been providing have worked like a charm for a hundred small businesses. Now it’s time to go get those corporate giants with the bailout money. Business is business, right? Just because they’re bigger doesn’t mean they can’t benefit as well.”

I spoke recently with restaurant chef/ owner partners who decided to be able to outdo the competition and market “farm to table” freshness, they would get up at 4 am every day and drive around to nearby farms themselves to hand-pick what they would cook for each meal. Considering they weren’t getting to bed until midnight, you can imagine the rest of that story. . .

                                                                     

If any of these examples causes you to think: So what’s wrong with those ideas?, you should maybe consider going back to the opening paragraph and head on out for one of those tasty meals. If you think these are all nut case examples, you should probably join the guy in the last sentence.

If it’s time for you to get with it, and adopt a more realistic attitude toward your business pursuits, then do it! It’s a choice. Behavior is a choice. You need to “stick to your knitting” when business times get tough. Rushing into anything is not generally a productive way to cope with an economy as catastrophic as this.

Use the time and energy instead to plan for when things get better (hopefully after November) and to make the most of what you have right now. Give customers more for their money and bite the bullet. Give employees increased responsibility and recognition instead of pay raises. Give suppliers consolidated orders you put together with other businesses to get better rates and discounts.

Switch your marketing emphasis from high-priced media buys to free social media and news release opportunities and find people who can help you make those work. Dress up and upgrade your website instead of trying to expand or add locations. Stay tuned into your industry, profession and markets on a day-to-day basis. Outsource tasks that take time and attention away from selling. 

                                                                                       

 www.TWWsells.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!

No responses yet

Aug 28 2010

CHASING BUSINESS DREAMS

Sounds like a plan . . .

 

There’s something in your mind that you

want to go after and try to make happen?

                                         

You’ve been dreaming about it for, it seems, forever. You’ve been careful about not telling too many others, but those you do mention it to give you the same 3-way response: a “that’s nice” smile, an agreeable nod of the head, and a pointed effort to steer the conversation in a different direction. They humor you. They don’t get it.

If you’re in big business or government work, those responses are enough to douse your fire. You get second and third thoughts and then back away and abandon your idea. You’re too invested in your own job security to dabble with ideas that will preoccupy your mind and lead you too far astray from your 401k and pension plan payoffs when you retire in twenty years.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t much care what anybody says, nor with whether they “get it” or not. You’re going to make your idea work regardless of the odds, the opinions, the financial insecurities associated with developing things to a startup stage, and beyond. Retirement and payoffs –even profits from sales– are the farthest thing from your mind.

The corporate executives and government administrators measure their innovative thinking in terms of whether the ideas they come up with fit into the grand scheme of long-term and strategic plans that blanket the organizations they serve. Entrepreneurs innovate without plans. Entrepreneurs have goals. They seek only the “end-result” of making their ideas work.

The odds for reaching a destination point are dramatically increased when goal-setting meets certain requirements and, once acknowledged, the focus is on each step that leads to the goal —- instead of on the goal itself.

                                       

For goals to be meaningful, they must satisfy all four of these criteria:

 they must be realistic, specific, flexible, and have a due date.

                              

Many people give up on goal-setting because they don’t want to feel like failures if a goal is not achieved. If it’s flexible, that won’t happen. Flexible goals can be redefined and be given new dimensions and new due dates. A goal in concrete is not a goal; it’s just a pile of concrete. Those fear-of-failure folks also need to be reminded that fear is a behavior, and behavior . . . is a choice! 

Those who think they have goals, but don’t adhere to all four criteria, have only wishes. And wishes only work for Disney characters!

Reality dictates that what “Sounds like a plan” rarely ever is, and what trys to pose as a goal without being specific, realistic, flexible and due-dated is simply a self-absorbing waste of time and energy, and often of money. Reality calls for disciplined action backed by burning desire. Reality is the stuff entrepreneurs are made of.

Entrepreneurs, some would argue, don’t plan; they just act. This is often true when it comes to describing the ways entrepreneurs appear to function in their business activities, but when it comes to getting started, and their daily pursuits, those who are most successful will inevitably point to having and constantly adjusting genuine goals to make their ideas work! Sounds like a plan, eh?  

                                   

 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!

2 responses so far

Aug 22 2010

SMALL BUSINESS STRANGLEHOLD

CONNECT THE DOTS . . .

 

#1.  It has been proven conclusively and repeatedly that job creation is the only pathway to economic recovery, growth and stability.

  •  Federal statistics released this week demonstrate that U.S. jobless rates continue to rise. The value of the dollar continues to fall.
  •  None of this matters to you? If you run a small business, it should. And what follows may matter even more to you.

 #2.  America’s entrepreneurs constitute this nation’s “agent of change” talent pool. Entrepreneurial ventures now account for over 30 million small businesses in the U.S.

 #3.  The overwhelming majority of new jobs in the U.S. is — and has always been — created by small business.

 #4.  The federal government – with no business experience at any level — has been giving staggering amounts of cash handouts to big business, which creates virtually no new jobs.

 #5.  Federal civil servants (which is a nice way of saying “people who haven’t an ounce of entrepreneurial spirit or savvy, and probably haven’t a single innovative hair on their bodies”) received an average pay and benefits in 2009 [according to a USA TODAY analysis reported today] of $123,049. The average private sector worker earned $61,051 total.

                                                                    

Where’s the incentive?

                                                

Misplaced of course. And why would you not look to a federal employment career where you can make twice as much money as you could by working for a private business? You’d have to be crazy!

                                                                                                                    

On the other hand, maybe you believe in yourself (not a common characteristic among federal employees . . . except for those who hold elective office).

Maybe you actually believe in the spirit of America, and don’t care about being disregarded, dismissed and just plain dissed. You think it’s time to take a stand for small business? You either do or you don’t.

If you don’t, you’re clearly in favor of providing bailouts to corporate giants and gargantuan financial support programs for totally useless federal ventures that – like most federal civil servant position compensation plans – simply drain the economy and put nothing back in. Is that what you went into business for?

Brain surgery certification is not a prerequisite for being able to understand that small business represents America’s only viable economic solution, and that continued reckless spending to underwrite federal and corporate pursuits is not the answer.

It’s a safe bet that any small business owner could easily and realistically $100 million in totally wasted spending inside of a ten-minute interview. Start with federal employee salaries!

                                                                             

 “The average federal salary

                                         

[according to USA TODAY],

                                

“has grown 33 percent faster

                                 

than inflation since 2000. . . 

                                      

and pays an average of 20

                                       

percent more than private

                                 

firms for comparable

                            

occupations.”

                                                               

Federal workers are overpaid. Period.

                                                  

Oh, and what are they overpaid WITH? Tax dollars of course. And how many of those tax dollars come from honest, hard-working, small business entities? Connect the dots.

Does it frustrate you to have your business growth and job creation opportunities be constantly limited and handcuffed, be over-regulated and over-taxed by politicians who are supposed to be representing you?

Does it undermine the very existence of your business to have to answer to politicians who are not business-minded, have no sense of business, do nothing to stimulate a competitive environment in the marketplace, and just don’t get it?                                                                                                    

 If these situations bother you, there are two important things you can do:

 1) Put your business into overdrive

. . . and develop more innovative and more economical ways to market your products and services, and to attract and reward and appreciate your customers.

 2) Start taking steps on your own behalf

. . . and on behalf of restoring this nation’s economy, by working with others in your industry, profession and community to replace those who spend what you earn on initiatives designed to hold you down, so they can spend even more of what you earn.  

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

2 responses so far

Aug 19 2010

ENTREPRENECONOMY

Entrepreneurship is 

                                    

the only solution to 

                                    

plummeting economy, 

                                    

job losses, and

                                     

government spending sprees!

                                                                 

It’s true. American history has demonstrated time and again that the only road to economic strength and stability is the one that leads to the support and encouragement of entrepreneurial pursuits. America’s federal government has underscored this point repeatedly with its own arrogant and misguided business incompetency that runs rampant to the core.

Job losses are continuing at a record rate, and new jobs are not being created.

Job creation is the single most powerful and essential factor in strengthening industry and service sector pursuits, and in boosting the value of the dollar. Job creation is almost exclusively the product of small business. Job creation does not come from the government that uses tax money to pay for useless jobs. Neither does it come from big business that invests itself in maintaining the status quo.

 Job creation is almost exclusively the product of small business.

Job creation is the child of small business because small business is owned and operated by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs don’t know how to give up. They don’t know how to spend their way out of problems. They find solutions, or — by instinct — create them! 

Entrepreneurs live with a  burning desire to make their ideas succeed.

Entrepreneurs alone know how to capture the spirit of innovation in both thinking and practice. And no one needs to look further for the proof of it than the single-mindedness of purpose exuded out of the garages of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, out of the 10,000 attempts by Edison to invent the light bulb, out of the persistence and perseverance of Henry Ford and Mary Kay Ash and Ellen DeGeneres.

Why has nothing but SBA tokenism been offered to small business? Because tokenism is enough to make good press.

Why has nothing substantive been done to drive job creation incentives to small business and to stop breaking small business backs long enough to actually foster new jobs? Because it doesn’t suit prevailing political spending spree goals and because government has ZERO business experience.

America’s 30 million small business owners need to accept the fact that no help is on the way

What needs to happen: America’s 30 million small business owners need to accept the fact that no help is on the way, and start acting like the entrepreneurs they were in the early “pre-cushy” days. There needs to be a resurgence of pioneer spirit and a greater sense of self-reliance that seems — for the lack of necessity being the mother of invention — to have skipped a generation.

It means now is the time to dig in.

It means now is the time to dig in, to plant your entrepreneurial energy firmly into shouldering the growth of your own business, with regard for your neighbor, but determination to go forward without dependency. Government and big business won’t bail you out. And there is no hope for banding together such fiercely independent souls as entrepreneurs into some kind of grass-roots movement.

Without losing regard for others and their struggles, or the virtues of charity, or the good of the communities that support you . . . it is time to act on your own and in your own behalf.  If even a fraction of America’s 30 million upstarts lead their businesses out of the fog, they will create needed new jobs and brighten the economy with the glow of real sunshine instead of a fading flashlight.

 

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!

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