Asking “Why?” Breeds Excuses!

“Ours is not to reason why.

  Ours is but to do or die!”

(source unknown, but help me out please if you know it)

     What makes this such a powerful one-two-punch thought is that it is based on the fact that anytime we ask “Why?” we are setting ourselves up for inaction.  We are investing ourselves in maintaining the status quo.  We are committing ourselves to going nowhere. We are on the road to over-analyzing!

     How is that possible?  Scientists are always asking “Why?” things do what they do, or “Why?” things are the way that they are, and their analytical pursuits end up helping all of us . . . hardly the stuff of status quo!  And what about accountants and history teachers?  They earn their livings by questioning “Why?”  And doctors need to check medical histories in order to . . .

Nope! 

Asking “Why?” Breeds Excuses! 

Period.  

     Imagine the range of answers to the question, “WHY were you late to work?”  Are any of those answers NOT a “reason” or “excuse”?  Now imagine the answers to instead asking, “By the end of the day, can you please give me–in writing– three ways that explain HOW you will prevent yourself from being late to work?” 

     Excuses (aka reasons)are responses we give out of laziness, ignorance, lack of self-discipline, lack of sense of reality, or when we seek to rationalize or explain something (like history teachers, archaeologists, sociologists, and accountants whose careers revolve around analyzing the past).

     Oh, and –by the way– the same do-nothing mindset infiltrates the entire vocation of self-proclaimed “SEO Specialists” and “Sales Conversion Specialists” who seem more often than not to simply be experts at smoke-and-mirroring you into a corner.  They LOVE when you ask “Why?”  Guess (ahem) “Why?”  They salivate at the thought of dragging unwitting non-geeks into their dark and mysterious corners of overkill analysis, and charging higher rates the darker it gets! 

     The bigger the organization asking, the more valuable the SEO and sales conversion answers pretend to be, and the results?  Well, the results in big-company cases are both more expensive to obtain AND more readily offered as justification for changes that should have been made on the fly, months or years ago without all the “Why?” questioning in the first place.

     In entrepreneurship training

and coaching, we call it

   “getting tangled up in your underwear.” 

(Not exactly a flattering image!)

     BUT it is this very point that in fact distinguishes entrepreneurs from the rest of the business world.  A genuine entrepreneur will not typically care about “Why” something is the way it is as much as taking trial and error steps immediately to do something about it.  True entrepreneurs believe in themselves!  “Don’t analyze the thing to death; you think too much!” you’ll often hear an entrepreneur say.

     An outstanding American business leader I knew in my second full time job always said that he didn’t ever want to hear problem-centered discussions about who did what to whom or when or why, that he was only interested in the solution, and that there was no better way to find the right solution than to try out what you believe to be right, and keep trying and acting on it over and over. 

     In retrospect, my guy must have been listening to Thomas Edison who disavowed public mockery of his 9,999 failed attempts to invent the lightbulb by simply explaining the attempts as 9,999 discoveries of ways that could be eliminated in his quest.      

     Passive minds do nothing.  Analytical minds exhaust themselves in circles of reasons, rationales, and excuses.  Active minds get things done. 

     Any entrepreneur will tell you that some action is always better than no action, and that the only way to move forward is to move, to act on gut instinct and limited knowledge . . . because, in the end:

Instinct and limited knowledge

     are all we ever have anyway.    

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“Let’s see, why don’t we sell

our cars by showing guys

crash their motorcycles?” 

Let’s show the guy that makes a wisecrack in a business meeting get thrown from the high rise office building meeting site.  Let’s show a man getting a bowling ball dropped on his head.  Let’s show people shooting at each other.  Let’s show blood spattering. 

Oh, and, by the way, let’s not worry about the whole violence deal; we’ll just smoke-and-mirrors it all so nobody cares, and it all serves to mask the negativity . . . like the guy who’s blasted through the conference room window out of the meeting will have his fall broken by landing in gently forgiving shrubs, and then he’ll get up a little stunned and tell the camera he was just kidding about his meeting comment.  No body will notice the violent edge because they’ll be so busy laughing. 

ARE YOU KIDDING US,

PEOPLE?

     I’m no peacenik or tree hugger or love-is-the-answer nutcase.  I’m even a “24” fan.  But I am a human being, like most human beings, who respects human life and doesn’t see anything funny or entertaining about violent representations used in TV commercials to sell products and services in primetime hours when children are watching!

     I find this particularly distressing and tasteless when program scheduling is aimed at a viewing audience that targets children . . . in the media and professional sports’ feeble attempts to build fan base, they have crossed the line. 

     This Superbowl run of commercials, with a very small handful of tasteful exceptions (and you know which companies these were) was hands down the absolute WORST collection of moronic TV advertising spots ever shown in sponsorship of one single event in the history of the world! 

     What on Earth makes the primadonna creative directors at America’s top advertising agencies think for ONE SECOND that the idiotic commercial storyline he or she was sold by some space cadet art director and dope-smoking writer could possibly be appropriate or salesworthy to push down the clients’ collective throats and written off as being in good judgement?

     [In case you’re wondering about the strength of my convictions, incidentally, I spent a dozen years working at three of the world’s most famous ad agencies, and won a national award at it.  I know whereof I speak!]

     How could ANY one think that the crap presented to Superbowl audiences (especially children) had the remotest chance of reflecting positively on the clients’ businesses?  Tell me.  I really want to hear this answer.  I want to know how dumb you can get?  It’s unbelieveable is what it is. 

     It is pitiful that any company in its right mind (whatever that might be) could even imagine that the impressions made on the viewing public would possibly translate to increased sustained sales.  Positively won’t happen.  But then hey, how hard do you sell your braindead ideas to clients when they’re putting up $3,000,000 for a 30-second commercial and your company is earning roughly half a million dollars for that one 30-second commercial?  Huh?

     Madison Avenue disgraced itself for stooping so low as to buy into the pretend violent mindset of low-life TV wrestling, and pawn it off as a client’s humorous attempt at reaching out to the tough-guy football fan crowd. 

     Got some news for you marketing research and focus group geeks: the football fan crowd you think you scored big with is not a collection of stereotype tough guys.  And I hope you sleazy characters who sold these commercials from the media to the agencies to the clients are all out of work soon! 

     That whole crowd of know-nothing advertising executives who haven’t a clue about what really sells, and don’t care anyway is almost as bad as those behind the warped decision to allow has-been Springsteen on the halftime stage.  They probably thought he was great while the rest of us all ran to throw up when he couldn’t sing on key or even hold his breath long enough to carry the notes he once made famous. 

     There was a reason of course that “The Boss” only performed old biggies that everybody knew . . . a great cover for fading skills!  He had no right to be there.  I feel sorry for his fans that he made such a fool of himself. 

     But I guess it’s all about money, right?  Right.  But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck!    halalpiar

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ARE YOU BOARD-BORED?

     The most infamous collection of meeting-makers on Earth has to be “Boards.”  Consider how Board-Bored we must be.  We have Boards of Directors, Boards of Trustees, Boards of Advisors, School Boards, Medical Boards, Law Boards, Admissions Boards, Homeowner and Condo Boards,  Probation Boards, Boards of Overseers, Surf Boards, Snow Boards, Water Boarding (whoops! sorry) Editorial Boards, Boards of . . .  

     What’s the point?  If you’re Board-Bored, you are most certainly sick of meetings, right?  Right!  So, what can be done to make meetings better?  Here, following, for your Board-Bored pleasure: 

7 Steps To Making Meetings Work ©

Copyright 2009, Hal Alpiar 

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER ONE”: Use an agenda!  Circulate a draft of it a week in advance of a monthly meeting, a couple of days ahead of a weekly meeting, and 17 seconds before a daily meeting (If you’re meeting daily and you’re not in the White House, the Pentagon, or a police department, 17 seconds is enough time to pour some coffee and decide to find another job!) 

Ask for agenda input in time to add it and —before the meeting– post a clearly visible newsprint or whiteboard (YOW! another Board!) version of the agenda you can refer to, and check off as you go.  People will know where they are and where they’re going, minus the anxiety of potential surprises.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER TWO”: Do NOT invite people to any meeting who are not actively involved in the decision making for the agenda points.  Meetings are not for training or parading egos.  If meetings do not end up producing results, stop having them!  Deal with those who need to attend for certain topics first and let them leave when those discussions end.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER THREE”: STICK TO THE AGENDA!  When issues are raised that are not directly related to the agenda, thank the source and ask that she/he include the point on the next agenda for the next meeting, or –if there’s time left after the agenda is completed– to raise it again then, but that “this meeting is for this agenda.”

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FOUR”: Always ADHERE TO THE EXACT TIMES SET for start and finish.  No exceptions ever.  If you do this twice in a row, no one will ever be late again, and everyone will stay on schedule for the day.  Also: resist the temptation to load the table up with snacks and beverages! Contrary to popular belief, donuts do not make for better decisions!

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FIVE”: Emergencies aside, meetings work best when they are consistently set and conducted.  This means holding sessions at regular times (I recommend Monday mornings for weekly status review meetings as being 100% more productive than mid-week  which is too workflow-disruptive, or Fridays, when everyone’s thinking about their weekends.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SIX”: Include compliments and small rewards (a toy car, a game or puzzle, a banana – preferably something appropriate to the deed) at the end of every meeting!  

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SEVEN”: Follow up each meeting PROMPTLY with a simple bullet list report of decisions made and who specifically is responsible for the next step by what date.  

     If all else fails and meetings still drag on into the sunset, have the chairs removed from the room and hold stand-up meetings!  It works wonders for getting things done quickly. 

     Remember too that MBWA (Management By Walking Around) is still the best way to minimize or eliminate meetings, get decisions made and motivate the troops at the same time.  People LIKE seeing the boss outside the conference room and out from behind the desk. 

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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!

Lost Your Marbles Lately? 

Probably the world’s greatest expert on the subject of death and dying was Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, whose definitive book, “ON DEATH AND DYING” has now become a true classic in the worlds of psychology, psychotherapy, social work, and caregiver counseling. 

     So what?  What does that have to do with your job, or the job of someone close to you going down the tubes?  A lot! 

     The dynamics that Kübler-Ross devoted her life to studying are the same for virtually ANY loss.

     So, the “5 Stages” of death and dying that she defined apply to loss of life, loss of limb or function, loss of possessions, loss of health, loss of friendship, loss of a spouse or parent or child, loss of a home, loss of money, loss of a pet, loss of business, and –yes– loss of a job.

The 5 Stages are, in order of occurrence:

1. Denial and isolation

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

The ultimate goal for any of us when we experience loss, has to be to move through the first four Stages as quickly as possible, and get ourselves to that 5th Stage point of Acceptance.

     Some succeed at this.  Some get stuck at Stages 1, 2, 3, or 4 along the way.  [Thes would probably be the majority.]  Some never make it to Stage 5 Acceptance, ever, and live the rest of their lives, for example, angry or depressed.  Those who don’t achieve a sense of Acceptance (as well as those who do but who require a particularly long time to get there) set themselves up to be in an emotionally unhealthy place in life.

     What is it that makes these failures and long delays emotionally unhealthy?  Denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, and depression all live in fantasyland.  The only reality there is on Earth is the one that is happening right this very split second as you are reading these words and thinking about them.  It’s a state of balance and harmony.  It means being focused on the present moment as much as possible.

     Often a “rescuer” or professional “coach” is needed to assist the sufferer of a loss in accelerating and smoothing the way to transition, to Acceptance.  If you want to help someone through a loss event or loss period of time, you must be prepared to be extraordinarily patient, empathetic (putting yourself in her or his shoes) and encouraging. 

     You need to help the individual or group or family pass through each stage and let go of each stage before moving to the next level, and to help him/her/them from slipping backwards.  Keeping those with loss issues and upsets focused on the immediate present moment that’s in front of their faces as much of the time as possible can be frustrating and emotionally draining for the helper(s). 

     It is not always an easy task and –while I heartedly recommend that responsibility for this function is best left to professionals who are trained to provide proper guidance— you can always lend a support system to encourage pursuit of professional assistance, and you can help prompt a sharper “here and now” awareness level simply by keeping your SELF focused on the present, and calling attention to it.     halalpiar

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THICKEN YOUR SKIN!

     Everybody sells or has to sell something

all or some of the time. 

Whew, now that’s a brainful of thoughts! 

     What I’m saying here (and run the risk of offending some by offering an “in other words” interpretation) is that anybody who sells anything, which means YOU (unless you’re a hermit or a castaway with a Wilson soccerball!), odds are great that you need to run an internal (inside your head) crusade to wipe out self-doubt!

     We can discuss what makes the odds “great” some other time; just trust me for now as I share with you “like it is” . . . IF YOU CAN’T shake off (like your dog after a swim) the worryworts about what your concerns are of the impressions and opinions others have of you —by worrying about what you think they think– you are dooming yourself to failure.

     At a time when more people are looking for fewer available jobs and the challenge to compete harder is tougher than ever, you cannot afford to short-change yourself or second-guess your actions or underestimate your abilities.

     You are what you are and worrying about what you are not will not make one iota of difference. 

     If others like, appreciate and respond to you and what you have to offer (regardless of whether it’s product or services for sale or your job qualifications), that’s great!  If they don’t embrace your ideas or what you have to sell, it’s their loss.  Period. 

     Don’t busy your mind with overkill analysis.  Move on to the next opportunity.  There is always a next opportunity that comes from what you make happen, and you can only make things happen when you’re free from dwelling on what didn’t happen! 

     You think maybe this sounds good but isn’t practical?  Wrong.  It sounds good because it IS good.  Making things happen and dropping the things that don’t along the way, are both a matter of choice. 

     Simply recognizing that your behavior is your choice will often turn the tide by itself, and other times will prompt you to free your mind up sooner rather than later.  It feels pretty stupid to be wallowing in disappointment and feelings of failure when you are thinking that you are CHOOSING to wallow and feel sorry for yourself. 

     Okay, and what will make all of this thinking work quicker and more effectively?  Getting in touch with the “here and now” that’s in your face (and that’s passing you by, NEVER to be retrieved if you’re busy wallowing), and the best way to do that is to TAKE A FEW DEEP BREATHS. 

     Circulating more oxygen to your brain makes you more alert and tuned in (kind of the opposite of wallowing).  Deep breathing also circulates more blood flow to your muscles, making your body more relaxed, less tense, more prepared to be going forward. 

     You’ll find four (just 4) VERY simple, detailed steps for making the most of deep breathing elsewhere on this site.  Try the “Magazine Articles” tab above, and click on the second article link (“Are You Breathing?”) in the lefthand column. 

     Oh, and as you thicken your skin, remember to believe in yourself, will you?  You are unique.  There is no one else on Earth exactly like you!   halalpiar   

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Can you answer this

barrage of questions

to your own satisfaction?

     Do you believe in an “educated consumer”?  What do you do or not do to promote that?  Do you actually teach prospects and customers about your products and services while emphasizing benefits (because you know of course that people buy benefits, not features). 

     Do you educate others about your industry or profession?  Do you share the dirty little secrets of your industry or profession with customers and prospects?  (And please don’t pretend there aren’t any!)  How do you do this or not do this?  Are you sidestepping what needs to be transparent?

     Do you inform customers and prospects about your competitors?  HOW do you do that or not do that (i.e., what steps do you take or not take regarding this point)?  Are you gracious about it?  Aggressive? 

     Do you only accentuate the positives?  How do you like to have salespeople deal with you?  Do you represent information to customers and prospects with an air of pomposity or humility or a little of both?  Or neither?  Again, how do you like to have other salespeople deal with you?

     Do you ask questions first and listen [the most effective salespeople listen 80% of the time and talk 20%] carefully, or just launch into a lecture?  Do you lecture or inform?  Do you share just the right amount of information that the customer or prospect wants to know (vs. too much or too little)?  How do you know?

     Are these questions reminding you to listen more?  Are you choosing to feel annoyed by these questions?  Or are you choosing to feel invigorated by them?  Are you remembering to put youself in the customer’s/prospect’s shoes (empathy) or just steamrollering forward, or shooting from the hip?  Do you paraphrase and offer examples?  Do you ask for feedback? 

     Do you get tired of other salespeople when they blabber?  At what point do you say something or simply walk (or run) away?  When you think about the salespeople who have lost you as a customer or prospect, how did they do that?  What does it make you think of?  What are you learning about your SELF right now?  Hmmmmm?

     Okay, well this is all just getting you ready.  Tomorrow (now that you are primed or re-primed about how to deal with them), we’ll start focusing on how to get those customers and prospects in the door!  See you then.      halalpiar   

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 138 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

“Screw it!  I’m gonna do

what I’ve always wanted

to do, and make it work!”

     You know what?  I am a businessperson first and foremost.  From my first lemonade-and-comic-books-for-sale stand when I was six years-old, through years of Madison Avenue advertising agency creative and management work for Fortune 500 clients, I’ve been a businessperson. 

     Through a dozen years of fulltime and adjunct business marketing, management and psychology professorships on three different campuses, and through three overlap years of hosting a daily feature radio show, I’ve been a businesperson.

     Through conducting 20,000 students’ worth of management training programs, and coaching nearly 500 new business startups, plus consulting with hundreds more, I’ve been a businessperson.

     Yet, the blanket under it all, the thread that weaves it all together, the place where my heart is while my mind and hands have been busy being a businessperson, is writing.  If first and foremost, I am a businessperson, then always and forever after, I am a writer.

     Knowing this has made me a better businessperson . . . and a better writer!

     What are YOU really all about?  What do you DO for work every day?  What do you DREAM of doing for work every day?  HOW can you combine those.  [I am now primarily a business writer and writing consultant, for example — traditional advertising, Internet websites and blogs, public relations and feature stories.]  

     Am I kidding?  No.  Am I being unrealistic?  No.  What you do for work every day is your choice!  Whether you do for work every day what you dream of or not, is your choice!  If that doesn’t seem possible because it’s simply too hard for you to do what you want and to make a living at it, THAT is a choice.  Choose for it to be easy!

     Too many of us cruise control through life doing jobs we tolerate, rather than those we know we could have more fun with.  With so many people on the transition bubble right now, it may be the perfect time to simply step back, and make yourself happier and healthier and less stressed.  How?

You walk up to the mirror, throw back your shoulders, smile and say “Screw it!  I’m going to do what I’ve always wanted to do.  And I’m going to make it work because it’s my choice, and because I don’t want to dry up and shrivel up by investing myself and my energy and my heart in maintaining the status quo!  I can enlist my family’s support.  I will at least explore this thinking.” 

     Give yourself the opportunity to be a better businessperson AND a better cowboy or dress designer or sailor or artist or restaurant owner or dog trainer or landscaper or W H A T E V E R by applying your business expertise to what makes for FUN in your life.  Consolidate.  Combine.  You can try it.  You can make it work.  You need only to make the choice.  Explore!  Exhale!  Enjoy!  

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

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

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Hi there, I’m “Getting Stale!”

What’s YOUR name?

     Do you think the answer to the old question, “what’s in a name?” is “nothing!”?? 

     Whether your business name is old (Hershey) or new (Smart Car), if you don’t reassess it regularly (at least annually), odds are it needs a tweak, a facelift, a transfusion, or a lobotomy! 

     Step back from the name and ask yourself if it’s still as meaningful, insightful, engaging, and competitive as it once was.  Does it play off of or make use of positive established associations (the Prudential Rock and MacIntosh Apple)?  Does it tie itself to positive, known or established concepts (Gorilla Glue)?  Is it born of positive, known or established (even competitive) name parents (Viagra from Niagra, Hondai from Honda)?  Does it offer a double entendre experience (Cluck U Chicken)? 

     Does your business name set up a branding line, themeline, rhyming or alliterative payoff (“You’ll never bite a burger better than a BUBBA!”)?  Is the URL taken (or purchasable)?  Is it easily visualized (Friendly’s)?  Has it some unusual aspect to its meaning or appearance (The Burger King crown, the colored Google lettering)?  Does it fit with where you are and where you’re going (EZPass)?  What would it take to achieve a fit? 

     Does it need total transformation or just a slight nudge (The New York Mets from The New York Metropolitans)?  Might it be presented as a new division or department or subsidiary of the old existing name in order to gain more market relevance (MsNBC)?  Is there too much “goodwill” accumulated with the old existing name to consider a departure or could it be time for introducing “the son or daughter or brother or sister of” the old established name (“From the makers of . . .”)?

     Why are you still reading this if you have no serious doubts?  If you’re a new or small business, the kind of transition suggested is certainly simpler and less-expensive to achieve than with and old or large business.  On the other hand, old large business name transformations (ESSO to EXXON, for example) can be historic and have monumental impact if they’re executed properly. 

     I drove by Charles Brown Glass Company yesterday, and thought, had that been my name and business, I would have bitten the proverbial bullet (and probably upset my grandparents) by simply using my less formal “Charlie” to capitalize on all the icon cartoon character references out there.  Wouldn’t you enjoy telling people you worked for or delivered to or supplied or represented or bought glass from Charlie Brown?  (Maybe even hire a receptionist named Lucy and pack the glass for delivery in “Linus Blankets”?)

     I know, I know, here come the lawyers!  But it’s pretty hard to legalize someone out of using their real name even when it’s an already-famous one.  BJ’s Bar in Ocean City, Maryland, must be thrilled beyond belief that a new BJ’s merchandise buyer’s club has just opened in Southern Delaware, half an hour away, accompanied by massive regional advertising that inadvertantly urges the public to both sets of business doorsteps.  

     What’s in YOUR business name?  Does it work?  Where’s it going?  Will changing it in any way get you where you’re going quicker, more productively, more profitably?  halalpiar

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If you have no customers

to start with, don’t start! 

Q. What single factor drives most business ventures under? 

A. Poor management. 

     You were thinking finances perhaps, or unproductive employees, or inability to compete effectively?  These negatives can certainly kill off great ideas and intentions quickly, but they all come from poor management.

     A key indicator of poor management (funding, employee and competitive status are not always evident, nor are they always indicative) is the sense of desperation (or ignorance) that accompanies strategic marketing pursuits focused on gaining new customers.

     The best source of business is existing and past business.  Period. 

     When you can present your sales message to those who have already been your customers, the task is always easier and the expense involved is always less because you are dealing with people or entities to whom you (your business) are (is) a known factor.  You have a history with them. 

     At some point, past customers have already paid you for your products or services.  They already know what you’re about and accept you for what they know.  You needn’t start from scratch to get their attention.  You need only to remind them of the positives of their experiences with you, and bring them up to date with your business.  This can be done for minimal expense. 

     The same can be said for existing customers– in spades!  You already have the ears of the people you are currently dealing with.  They wouldn’t be existing customers if they weren’t pleased with your business.  You don’t need to shout or drumroll your message.  You don’t need to underscore the benefits of your products and services. 

     You need only to maintain active communications, introduce new ideas and developments and give them what I call “Stand-On-Your-Head-And-Spit-Wooden-Nickles” service.  This can be done for zero expense!  

     When marketing gets expensive and drives businesses to the wall, is when over-zealous bursts of advertising, promotion, PR and Internet (more the former than the latter) are unleashed in attempts to get new customers. 

     NEW customers are VERY expensive to solicit and sell because you must start with the assumption that they don’t know you and perhaps never heard of you.  This means you have to get their attention, grab their hands, convince them to stay attentive and walk them through the benefits attached to your sales message, then motivate them to open their wallets.  Desired results are seldom produced. 

     Except for one in a billion odds, this is a long, drawn-out process that takes huge amounts of time, energy, and money.  Building a business slowly on the strengths of each past and present customer relationship will create new customers for you without all that draining output.

     The problems for brand new business ventures are even greater!  Where do you get past and present customers when you’ve just opened your doors? 

     If you have no customers to start with, don’t start! 

     If you have a small handful of customers to start with, you need to be prepared to commit your every waking minute to nurturing and cultivating that small handful until it’s an armful, and then a truckful . . . 

     Failure to do exactly that is one reason 9 out of 11 new businesses fail in the first 3 years and that it takes 5 years on average just to break even financially.  This notion goes full circle back to the top of this post: poor management! 

     If you’re an entrepreneur and this hasn’t scared you off, be prepared to pursue your ideas to the exclusion of all other pursuits, and recognize that this level of sacrifice often breaks up personal relationships and entire families.  Still there?  Then stop reading this and get moving!  halalpiar

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Talk that’s never walked

cannot survive in business.

     If you’ve heard me railing against the incoming government’s total lack of business experience, it’s with good reason.  Neither the new President nor the new Vice President have one iota of business experience.  Can you honestly sit there reading this and think that it really doesn’t matter to you?    

     Does it matter to you that neither of these velvet-tongued politicians have a shred of management experience?  Can you honestly sit there and say that that doesn’t matter that neither of these people have ever even managed a state national guard unit? 

     You know what?  If you answered “yes” to either or both of the last two questions, you are simply not a business owner or business manager or savvy entrepreneur (so I don’t know why you’re reading this in the first place), OR perhaps it’s possible that you’ve been hoodwinked, manipulated, and brainwashed by the media, or by the eloquent rhetoric that oozes from these two leaders’ mouths?  Are you a victim of talk that’s been talked but that’s never been walked?   

     Oh, I’m being disrespectful?  Sorry you would think that.  No, I’m not in the least. 

     I AM being brutally honest here though.  You may not want to hear this but if you have disrespect for the Presidency, that is your CHOICE.  You can just as easily choose to respect the office, regardless of your inability to relate to the person who holds it.  Even deep dislike for disreputable or disingenuous presidents past (except perhaps Clinton) never tarnished the respect for the office they held. 

     Business vs. politics.  The difference is this:  business success is built on hard work and innovation and follow-through, not loose talk that sounds nice.  It is not built on unrealistic fantasyland ambitions, nor empty promises.  Business success does not sprout from sounding great and delivering nothing.  It certainly is not the product of inexperience and disrespect for those who have business experience. . . and unlike politics, popularity contests do not breed success.

     Representing a state is not the same as managing a business. 

     Dealing with others who represent other states is not the same as building employee and customer loyalty; it’s not the same as making sales.  Trading off favors to get what you want is not the same as keeping AR and AP in balance, generating ROI, cutting costs and devising new revenue streams, getting/keeping/motivating top employees and vendors, fostering product and service innovation, dealing with the forces of the marketplace and the competition, and creating new and repeat sales! 

     It’s not the same.  It’s not even close! 

     So what’s a business owner or manager to do?  Answer: A better job!  We have to work harder AND smarter because we have no national leadership that understands what makes us tick.  The track-record is that business is viewed by our nation’s new leaders as nothing more than a source of money with which to fund socialistic programs instead of stimulate job creation and economic growth. 

     We have no national leadership that can appreciate and value and stimulate entrepreneurship.  Is there even a sliver of national leadership respect for the fact that it’s entrepreneurs who have made this country what it is, and that it’s our brave young military people who have kept it that way?  Or will we be getting lip-service alone?  Tuesday’s as good a day as any to decide.  Listen carefully to what’s not said. halalpiar

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