Profitability Channel

I’m not big on catch phrases. Actually I’m not big on the ones that have been around forever like “When life gives you lemons make lemonade” or “A diamond only becomes beautiful under extreme pressure”. Despite their intrinsic truth you hear them when something terrible has happened and you’re not in the mood.

The one I used disliked the most is “Together Everyone Achieves More”. Boy that irritated me. It took a long time to figure out why it bothered me, and as it turned out, under the most unusual of circumstances.

I had a navy blue dress with big buttons down the side. I took it to the dry cleaner so I could wear it to my father-in-law’s funeral. I unwrapped it the morning of the service and was horrified to discover a button missing in the most obvious place imaginable. I frantically went through my closet to find something else appropriate. Luckily it all worked out.

I took the dress back to the cleaner a few days later and proceeded to tell the owner what happened (I’m sure I was louder than I care to remember). He went over to a machine and pulled the button right out of a drawer. He said it popped off the dress and someone should have taken care of it. Several of his employees had stopped working and were watching us. I looked at them and asked if they thought their jobs were important, and if loose buttons and broken zippers mattered to them at all. I further ranted by saying“You were the most important people in the world to me the other day! I spent my time and energy trying to find another dress because somebody thought my lost button was no big deal.”

That’s the day I realized I wasn’t a team player. I had not allowed my own employees to take ownership of their jobs. How did I expect to have the best possible service and productivity when I acted as though I were a one person operation? My customers may have received the same type of service disaster because of that.

So T.E.A.M. is a reminder now that just because I’m the owner doesn’t mean I can do it all. "There is nothing easier to learn than experience, and at the same time, nothing harder to apply." Oh, wait a minute…

Last week a friend surprised herself when she became very passionate about her willingness to pay the price for being a business owner.

“There’s a price to be paid no matter what choice you make”, she said. “There is a corporate price and there’s an entrepreneur price. I am willing to pay the price to be an owner.” She hadn’t realized how strongly she felt until she started talking about it.

I laughingly say owning a company is the American dream unless you actually do it. The amount of work, worry and responsibility can be overwhelming at times. Still, I have been doing it for a long time and can’t see myself doing anything else because of the freedom. I am willing to pay that price.

Corporate America is no longer the safety net so many of us had when we first started out. Mergers, buyouts, downsizing has caused many a new career. When I first read twenty years ago that people could have up to seven different careers I didn’t believe it. (Kind of like 50” plasma screen TVs in dorms – I know it happens but my brain can’t seem to comprehend it.) When corporate work is good it can be really good and a weekly paycheck always comes in handy. I give all the credit in the world to those folks who are willing to pay that price. Just not me.

They don’t explain this in any school. Too bad. It would probably save a lot of heartache on both sides. Making the leap to owning and growing a business is so much easier when you know the price is right.

No, the three D’s aren’t what you fear when your child comes home with his report card. The three D’s are discipline, drive, and dedication, the three key critical things you must have for business success, according to Sheryl Nelson, CEO of Gotcha! Design (www.gotchadesign.com). Sheryl was our ibusinesschannel.com guest on Monday’s “The Ugly Truth about Business” program.

Sheryl quit her design job to have and raise her children. Fourteen years later she found herself with no husband and no job. Since that defining moment six years ago, she taught herself the business side of design (which she admittedly doesn’t like but knows she has to do it) and has grown a successful, profitable company.

Find out the mistakes that Sheryl made and the reason that discipline, drive, and dedication are necessary for a successful business. Watch Sheryl’s show by clicking on the www.ibusinesschannel.com website program button. Then click on The Ugly Truth about Business, July 16, 2007.

Insurance companies know all of the tricks to make sure they stay profitable and give you as little as possible for your losses. According to Russell Longcore, author of Insurance Claim Secrets Revealed! (www.insurance-claim-secrets.com) here are two things that you, as a business owner, must do:

1. Avoid co-insurance penalties. If your insurance policy says that you have to insure your building and contents for 80% of the replacement value and they deem that you’ve only insured it for 50% of the replacement value, then you’ll get less when there is a loss.

2. Make sure that you look at the depreciation tables. Insurance companies sometimes guess when they establish depreciation. If you Google (www.google.com) your asset and depreciation you can often find the depreciation tables for your assets.

Russell was fired from his insurance job when his book was published. Why? Because they felt that the public shouldn’t know all of the behind the scenes workings of insurance companies. Russell felt that consumers should know these facts to get as much of a settlement as possible.

Russell made an offer to anyone reading this blog. The first person who emails him a question (russlongcore@bellsouth.net) will receive a free copy of his book. (And we will report the winner).

You can find out more ways to save money and make sure you are protected when an insurance claim hits by watching this week’s The Ugly Truth about Business program on ibusinesschannel.com. Click on the join button to receive this and other valuable information for time starved business owners that will take your business to the next level.

Running in Place

Do you want to run a company or own one? Really - think about it. What did you think about most when you decided to open a new business? Usually freedom is the number one reason. Freedom you would never have as a nine to fiver.

Do you have it? It took forever (and by that I mean very recently) to figure out owning a business was a lot more fun than running one. Heck I could do that working for someone else and avoid all the headaches that come with ownership. What was I missing?

In a word help. I had to start trusting that I hired smart people to do smart things. That they wanted the success of my company as much as I did. That my problems were not new and there were a million people I could ask.

I can hear you already! I can only trust myself to get things done. If I don’t oversee everything there will be a melt down. I can’t afford help. I’m not asking someone I know for advice because they will think I’m stupid or failing. The whole world will figure out I just got lucky in the past.

Stop.

Most of the help is right here on I Business Channel. If we don’t have the information you need we know where to get it. We’re accessible any time whether you’re looking for fundamental concepts or cutting edge information.

We can’t promise you’ll be ready to make the leap from runner to owner tomorrow. What we can promise is helping you make the leap when you’re ready.