Continue To Deliver

Dear Readers,

A couple of months ago I posted a piece about "Executing the Basics, Flawlessly" and I must say that at no other point in time is this truer than today.

Regardless of your occupation or business, project or venture, there remains a constant need to perform as though today was your last.

In business, as in life, you never know what is going to happen. Today customers could be lining up at your door, tomorrow they can be down the block. Today you gain a new client, tomorrow a client could tell you they no longer need your services. Today you could bring new investors on board, tomorrow they can cancel the check. There are no guarantees.

However, in business as in life, you must continue to deliver.

By deliver, I simply mean that you must constantly exceed expectations. I've spoken before about going that extra step, making that extra call, and doing the necessary follow-up. Those are all givens.

It is imperative to continue to deliver. There is nothing more impressive than when a customer or client walks away 110% satisfied.

It doesn't matter if you are in school, working a 9-5, or launching a start-up, you must continue to deliver. Whether you have 1 or 1000 employees, you and them must continue to deliver, day in, day out, and on the weekends.

Yesterday I picked up my niece from school and she was soooo eager to show me her report card. Public school's in the Bronx use a number grading system; she got all 4s, the highest you can get. After much praise, I made sure she got started on her homework. And, as I told her, "They're going to have to add 5s next marking period."

Whatever space life might find you, there is always room for improvement.

Each day, God willing, is another opportunity for you to deliver.

Best,

-whatdabusinessis.com

My Stimulus Check Just Arrived.........Kinda

WOO HOOO!!!!!

Despite the dismal unemployment figures that were released two weeks ago, some of us
are very happy to be receiving a paycheck.

For me, this happens every Thursday, like clock work.

A minute ago, I looked at my pay-stub and noticed that there was a little something extra courtesy of President Obama.

$10.25, One Jackson and One Washington (coin).

Thank you Mr. President, and Mr. Geithner, and Mr. Bernanke. Regardless of those who criticize your efforts, I applaud you all for my $10.25.

In two weeks, I can take the wife to a movie; in three she could have popcorn and a soda.......if I save up. Better yet, I can buy a couple gallons of gas, or a cd (preferably that Dream Love vs Money which is fire), or get that needed car wash.

Honestly, I haven't done the math to see what the effective Federal tax rate is now, but I do know that for the foreseeable future I will see an extra $10.25 every week. Now if we can only get that FICA character and Mr. Patterson and Mr. Bloomberg to follow suit, we can really get this stimulation under way.

Just think, if I/you had the discipline, in a year you could have $533, all thanks to the federal government. I gladly took that $600 from Mr. Bush, but I think I'm going to enjoy this $10.25 a little more. Had Bush done this during at the start of his eight years in office, I'd definitely be ballin' by now - instead of sitting at work blogging.

Never mind all that, thank you Mr. President, job well done.

Creating Deals in Difficult Times

So I'm riding the train home yesterday with a very beautiful young lady, but this post isn't about her.

While reading The New York Times, I came across an article by R. Perez-Pena which reported how the Times raised $225 million, to pad it's bank account, by selling part of its state-of-the-art headquarters building in New York City. At the same time the Times will lease (pay rent) back the property for a period of ten years then have the option to repurchase it at a set price of $250M.

The deal itself isn't uncommon in the world of real estate investment trusts, however it was artfully executed and should benefit both parties over the long term, but more importantly is what this means to your business as we ride out this recession.

As a business owner, be it a full fledge enterprise with employees, W-2s, benefits, and sick days, or a one-person conglomerate, in these times you might want to consider alternative deals to keep your operation going. If you are just thinking about starting your business, also consider how you are going to fund it over the long term.

The Times is not much different from your local bodega or your own company. They provide a product and services which people pay for. However, the time that lapses between receipt of payment and the actual providing of goods varies greatly, so in order to keep the lights on, businesses often borrow from banks, shareholders, or against their assets in the hopes of having a windfall that will allow them to catch up and possible get ahead.

It's like making the minimum payment on credit card bills then using your tax return to pay them off.

Back to your business. As you go about trying to figure out how to grow your business, gain new customers, or sell more product, keep in mind that you might have to do some creative dealing to get ahead.

As a friend of mine mention recently, you might have to consider bartering your services or goods, in exchange for what you need to move your business forward and generate income.

Outside of visiting a loan shark or theft, one of your ongoing goals as a business owner is to raise capital and stay stocked. Doing so is easier when you have a tangible product, but even if you're a creator of content (blogger), your main job is building your brand and having people fund your ambitions.

So go out there in these difficult times and create deals today that will allow you and your believers to proper tomorrow.

-whatdabusinessis.com

Freeze Layoffs, Save Jobs?

A friend of mine calls me up yesterday with and interesting proposal.

We often go back and forth with business ideas, our observations on the economy, and just the overall state of our financial well-being. We've done this since we were in high school and over the years we've come up with some good ideas, but haven't always
been able to capitalize on them.

In a nutshell, he said that the government should put a 3 month freeze on layoffs nation wide. The goal would be to keep people working, so that they can keep spending and paying their bills. If you have a job, you are likely to spend some portion of your income and contribute to the circulation of currency.

On the surface this seems like a noble idea, but after some thought, it would only drive private enterprises into the ground and delay the inevitable.

In theory, placing a freeze on layoffs would curtail the number of people receiving unemployment benefits from the government and ease the pressure on the federal budget. It would also enable employees to prove their worth to their managers and possibly increase productivity in the process.

However, keeping people on the payroll is generally not in the best interest of a company that is trying to save money. Additionally, we would have to factor in the size and employee requirements for such a plan.

Unlike freezing interest rates or converting adjustable rate mortgages into affordable fixed rate mortgages, placing a national freezing layoffs falls out of the scope of government. Of course extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions, but private companies should be regulated by the government, not tied to it. The government can set a minimum wage, set safety guidelines, impose taxes, and foster better working environments, but telling an employer that they can not scale down when there aren't enough customers for growing inventories is not their job.

It's like telling the Gap, they have to keep seasonal employees on until March, even though the holiday season is three months behind them. It's like going into a dealership and having 10 sales associates tending to 2 customers, it just doesn't make sense.

We know that all industries are not the same, so applying a moratorium on layoffs in the auto industry is very different from doing so in retail or health care. A band-aid will not help someone who needs stitches, the gesture is nice, but practically flawed.

As I've said many times before, I am not a financial expert or an economist, but as a small business owner there are many proposals, theories, and ideas on the table about how to keep the financial system from deteriorating further, but freezing layoffs, to save jobs is really not one of them.

-whatdabusinessis.com