Small businesses, already on a tight budget, are looking for new ways to cut costs as they brace for minimum wage increases in several U.S. states next month.

Strategies range from cutting back workers’ hours, to replacing waiters with an automated ordering system.

Eight states including Arizona, Florida and Washington will require employers to pay non-salaried workers a minimum of 32 cents more per hour, on average, starting Jan. 1. While occasional increases to the minimum wage—which currently stands at $7.25 an hour nationally, but varies by state—are nothing new, the planned 2012 adjustments will hit many businesses at a time when profits are razor thin.

PAYING MORE FOR HOURLY HELP

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

“It’s a big deal,” says Skip Vallee, chairman and chief executive officer of R.L. Vallee Inc., a convenience-store chain with 60 locations in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

About half of R.L. Vallee’s roughly 450 employees make the minimum wage—mostly entry-level cashiers, sales associates and inventory-control personnel. To cope with the wage increases in Vermont, the 69-year-old family business plans to cut employees’ work hours in that state and is considering having employees there pay a larger share of the premiums for their employer-provided health insurance.

Legislators commonly recommend boosting the minimum wage to compensate for cost-of-living increases, and some research suggests that mandated wage increases don’t necessarily result in job losses or reduced work hours.

There is no “evidence of any loss of employment or hours for the type of minimum-wage changes we have seen in the U.S. in the last 20 years,” says Arindrajit Dube, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Earlier this year, Mr. Dube and two colleagues used government data to compare employment figures in counties that border states with different minimum wages.

If employers cut back on labor, it’s generally due to poor economic conditions, not pay requirements, Mr. Dube says.

But opponents argue that minimum-wage increases do have unintended consequences. “When you raise the price of something, including entry-level labor, you’re going to decrease demand for it,” says Michael Saltsman, research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C.

Some small-business owners who have relied on teenagers and other low-cost employees in recent years already have cut back significantly on staffing, forcing them to search for other options.

“At this point, we’re staffed at about the lowest level we could possibly be staffed,” says Albert F. Macre, co-founder of a restaurant in Steubenville, Ohio. Mr. Macre says he will have to cut back the hours his employees work. He also plans to spend less on window washings and other vendor services to help his 14-employee establishment, Triple Play Café, stay in the black.

Martin O’Dowd estimates a pending 36-cent increase in the minimum wage in Florida to $7.67 an hour will add up to more than $1 million in annual operating expenses for the 30 Hurricane Grill Wings restaurants outlets he owns there.

Amy Igloi, a restaurant owner in Washington, plans to trim her employees’ work hours when the minimum wage increases there on Jan. 1.

He recently began investing in technology—an interactive menu—for some locations that lets patrons order meals by themselves from their tables. If it works out, he says, he’ll be able to cut back on the number of servers he needs to hire.

“We have to be more efficient,” says Amy Igloi, owner of Amy’s on the Bay LLC, a steak and seafood restaurant in Port Orchard, Wash., where the minimum wage will rise 37 cents to $9.04, including for servers and others who normally receive tips. “There’s not much room for error.”

She had as many as 34 employees just a few years ago. Now, she plans to trim her 22 employees’ work hours as much as possible.

Still, some entrepreneurs say they prefer not to pay minimum wage. Spencer Williams, president of Schoggi Inc.’s West Paw Design, says he came to this conclusion soon after he founded the pet-products manufacturer in Bozeman, Mont., in 1996.

Initially, he paid some plant workers the lowest wages possible. But when he later decided to give out raises that exceeded the minimum required, he says he gained a more loyal work force. Today his lowest-paid staffers earn $11 an hour. The minimum hourly wage that employers must pay in Montana will rise 30 cents to $7.65 next month. “Our turnover dramatically reduced and the engagement level from our employees rose,” he says.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

Article source: Wall Street Journal

 

Rachel Ensign on The News Hub looks at why so many Americans are working past their 65th birthday because they can’t afford to retire.

When Angela Gregor’s mother became ill and needed long-term care in the 1990s, Ms. Gregor tapped her individual retirement account for funds and stopped making contributions. Then came the tumultuous stock-market ups and downs of the past decade, dealing the IRA another blow.

To make ends meet, Ms. Gregor went back to work part time last September, as a data-entry clerk at a senior center near Chicago. The 67-year-old hopes to retire by age 70, but says she’ll have a hard time doing so if she can’t sell her home.

“Everything is more expensive. I cannot retire, I wish I could,” says Ms. Gregor. “Like most older people, my money is in my home. … I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Many older people are finding themselves in a position they never expected to be in at retirement age: still working or in need of a job.

Scott Pollack

And the laundry list of reasons just keeps growing. Already battered nest eggs took another beating this month with the market’s wild swings. With interest rates essentially at zero since 2008, income from Treasurys and certificates of deposit is pretty paltry. And the Federal Reserve recently said it would likely keep rates “exceptionally low” through mid-2013. On top of that, housing prices are still in the doldrums, leaving homeowners with much less equity to tap.

More than three in five U.S. workers in their 50s and 60s plan on working past 65 — and 47% of that group say they’ll do so because they’ll need the money or health benefits, according to a 2011 study from the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

But in this tight labor market, working into your golden years isn’t easy. And you’ll have to make your age and years on the job come across as assets, not liabilities. In addition, with the current market upheaval, you’ll need a financial plan that puts your savings on the fast track and takes into account how Social Security and Medicare benefits could be affected.

Staying the Course

For many older workers, the easiest option may be to continue with their current employer. But that will entail making themselves essential.

Workers should take on new projects when possible. And it’s crucial to stay on top of the latest technology being used; you don’t want to be perceived as the old guy who doesn’t know what’s going on.

Older employees also can put their experience to use — and on display — by volunteering to mentor younger workers either formally or informally.

Dave Bowe, 70, says he has kept his position at Stacy Adams Shoe Co. since 1977 because he has continued to be one of the men’s footwear company’s top-selling sales representatives. He says working has helped him pay for expenses related to his wife’s disability and keep insurance that covers her medical expenses, though he also enjoys the job.

Mr. Bowe says he stays close with longtime customers, answering their calls at night or on the weekend. When he had to cut back on overnight travel when his wife became disabled, he made up for lost business by aggressively pursuing new clients closer to home.

“I have to produce or the company wouldn’t let me work out here,” says Mr. Bowe.

Of course, some workers may have to take illness or physical limitations into account. If you feel like you can no longer manage physical labor, late hours or travel, talk to your manager about moving to a different position, says Beverly Harvey, a career coach in Pierson, Fla. Suggest the position you’d like to move to and show how you’re qualified for it, she says. If your boss is the one initiating such a conversation, chances are your standing at the company has already suffered.

Another option is phased retirement programs that let workers gradually reduce their hours, says Cornelia Gamlem, president of human-resources consulting firm GEMS Group. There also are job-sharing arrangements, she says. For instance, if you and a co-worker are both thinking of paring your work hours, approach management with a plan detailing how you could divide your time and responsibilities.

Just keep in mind that a change to your full-time status could affect your eligibility for benefits such as health insurance or a 401(k) match.

Starting Over

Finding employment outside your company will present more of a challenge since you essentially have to prove yourself from scratch.

Ideally, you want to seek work within the same industry to take advantage of your network and work experience. If you look in a different field, figure out what skills you can translate into a new role.

When Ms. Gregor interviewed for her position at the senior center, she highlighted the computer and accounting skills she’d honed in decades of office work, even though she had most recently worked as a home health aide.

Some employers are known to hire senior citizens. AARP (aarp.org) has a directory. Search for “National Employer Team.” Some temporary-employment agencies, including Kelly Services and Adecco, specialize in placing seniors.

Keep Saving

While you may need a steady paycheck to pay the bills, you’ll still need to save for when you eventually do stop working.

Workers age 50 and older typically can contribute an additional $5,500 to a 401(k) annually and an extra $1,000 to an IRA. You also can get a tax credit of up to $2,000 annually if you contribute to a retirement plan and make $55,500 or less (for joint filers) or $27,750 (for single filers).

You generally don’t have to take required distributions from your 401(k) as long as you keep working for the employer offering the plan — regardless of your age. But at age 70[frac12], you’ll need to start taking annual distributions from a regular IRA. So make a plan to set aside or reinvest as much of those distributions as you can afford.

Hold off on taking Social Security benefits as long as possible since the longer you wait, the higher your monthly benefit will be. If you keep working, benefits are likely to be subject to federal income tax and may be further reduced if you take them before full retirement age. Finally, if you’re using Medicare, keep in mind that your premiums are determined by your income.

By RACHEL LOUISE ENSIGN

Article source: Wall Street Journal

 

If you’ve got an expertise and a way with words, you may be in the perfect position to launch a business teaching others about your expertise. This business is called information marketing and your products can take the form of books, audio programs, DVDs, newsletters, seminars and other content vehicles. What is essential is the actual information: the unique knowledge that you are taking from your brain and putting on paper or screen or into a video or seminar script.

The most exciting part of launching an information marketing business can be researching your market and creating your products. However, you also need to put protections in place before you launch. Paperwork and legal protections may not seem as sexy as writing your first book or making a seminar sale, but this work can be vital.

As you grow and make money, your success may make you a target, which can make you vulnerable. The following legal protections will help you protect your assets, products, customers and yourself.

Copyright
Copyright can protect your words in whatever form from people stealing them. It creates a protection under federal law for your products and sales materials. You need to include copyright notices in your products and sales letters, and have documented agreements with all your writers and content providers.

Registering your products with the U.S. Copyright Office is the only way for you to fully protect them. It’s a quick and easy process. Most importantly, it provides you with the right to statutory damages and attorney’s fees should someone copy your original works. These penalties and fees can be a terrific deterrent when you are pursuing people who are stealing your work. Even if you never recover those damages, the threat can often be enough to stop continued infringement.

Registration is voluntary but if you ever want to bring a lawsuit against an infringer, registration is key. You register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office with a simple form, copies of your work, and a $30 fee.

Fair Use and Permissions for Copyright-Protected Work
Did you come across a killer sales letter you want to adapt to your business or an order form you want to edit into your own? It’s always better to ask for permission. That letter or form is likely copyright protected, exposing you to legal liability should you use it without express permission.

Even if something is protected under intellectual property laws, your unauthorized use may still be legal. There are exceptions to each of the laws protecting creative work–situations where authorization is not required. For example, under copyright law, a principle known as “fair use” permits you to copy small portions of a work for certain purposes such as scholarship or commentary. Under the fair use doctrine, you can reproduce a few lines of a sales letter without getting permission. However, to prevent hard feelings or threats of lawsuits, it’s always best to ask.

Always get permissions in writing. Relying on an oral or implied agreement is almost always a mistake. You and the rights owner may have misunderstood each other or may remember the terms of your agreement differently. This can lead to disputes. If you have to go to court to enforce your unwritten agreement, you’ll have difficulty proving exactly what the terms were.

Trademarks
Trademarks protect distinctive words, phrases, logos, symbols, slogans, and any other devices used to identify and distinguish products or services in the marketplace.

There are, however, areas where both trademark and copyright law may be used to protect different aspects of the same product. For example, copyright laws may protect the artistic aspects of a graphic or a logo used by a business to identify its goods or services, while a trademark may protect the graphic or logo from use by others in a confusing manner in the marketplace. Similarly, trademark laws are often used in conjunction with copyright laws to protect advertising copy. Trademark law protects a product or service name and any slogans used in the ad, while copyright law protects the additional creative written expression contained in the ad.

Product Disclaimers and Insurance
To protect yourself fully and to properly educate your customers, you should always include publisher’s legal notices and disclaimers in your information products and publications, literature, order forms, seminar materials, etc. Have an attorney review your disclaimer before you begin using it.

Related to disclaimers is consultant’s/publisher’s liability insurance. As an information marketer, you need to consider specific coverage for the types of claims that could come from your coaching, teaching or product-publishing activities. For example, someone who implements a business practice based in part on your recommendations through coaching or products and is unhappy with the results or loses money could sue you, even if he didn’t correctly implement your advice.

Article source: Entrepreneur.com

 

By SUSAN WILSON SOLOVIC

Do you remember your childhood summer job?

I do. I worked in my family business—a funeral home. From the time I was five, my parents found ways for me to “help out.” My first responsibility was to collect broken flowers from funeral sprays so my mother could easily vacuum. It might sound morbid—but it was a way for my parents to spend time with me, instead of dropping me off with a baby sitter. And I learned some invaluable lessons about work ethic along the way.

As we head into summer, some small-business owners with school-aged children are probably facing a difficult dilemma. How do you meet the 24/7 demands of running a business, while simultaneously spending quality time with your children?

Here’s what I suggest: Hire your kids to work for you. It’s beneficial for your business, your children and your relationship. And there are tax advantages, too.

As a grade schooler, I didn’t get paid when I worked in the family business. But as I matured and took on more responsible roles such as bookkeeping duties and other administrative tasks, I received a salary as any other employee would. And that’s where the tax benefit kicks in.

When you hire your own children, you can deduct your kids’ wages (just like any employee’s salary) as a business expense. Plus, by putting a young family member on the books, you’re essentially directing the money back into your household, where it will be taxed at a lower rate than yours, or not at all. If your business isn’t a corporation, you won’t have to pay employment taxes on the wages paid to your child, either.

The key, though, is to make sure the work your child does is necessary and essential for the business. They can’t show up and play video games on the office computer. Document their work hours with a timesheet or time clock. And don’t forget to issue a W-2 at the end of the year.

The Labor Department, which sets the rules as to the ages and hours that young people can work, makes special exceptions for parents employing minors. (Some state laws may differ so make sure you check.)

But in addition to the business advantages of hiring your children, it can be personally rewarding, too. How do you make the working relationship a positive one for both parent and child? Here are some tips to help you manage the relationship the right way:

1. Make it a learning experience. As noted above, in order to qualify for the tax benefits, your children must be doing real work in your business. But make sure it’s more than just grunt work. Give them opportunities to learn new skills and grow, and be willing to teach them along the way. The experience can enhance your kid’s resume—and expose him or her to the ins-and-out of running the family business. In the long run, that also might instill a desire in your child to shepherd the company as an adult.

2. Define responsibilities. Just as my first job at the funeral home was to pick up broken flowers, your children should be assigned work for which they are entirely responsible. It provides them with a sense of accomplishment when they can see how their efforts contribute to the whole. Increase the level of responsibility in accordance with their age. For instance, at Champion Media in Loves Park, Ill., owner Robert Smith has adjusted work responsibilities as his four kids—the oldest of which is 15—have gotten older. When they were young, the kids helped with direct-mail campaigns by sticking labels and stamps on postcards, and were compensated with treats such as ice cream or candy. Today, the oldest kids are handling social media, email marketing and slide creation for PowerPoint presentations as salaried employees.

3. Establish work parameters. Trust me: There are going to be circumstances where the child wants to do anything besides work. Make it clear that they’re beholden to a work schedule. In his case, Mr. Smith makes sure his children understand that they must stick to certain hours, or make arrangements in advance if they want time off. Otherwise, “then they don’t get paid,” he says.

4. Separate work and family. Make a crystal-clear demarcation between “work parent” and “home parent.” You may be upset with your child for something that went wrong at work, but don’t carry that home with you. At Creditloan.com, a consumer resource company in Apollo Beach, Fla., owner Daniel Wesley employs his two kids, ages 16 and 17, and makes sure work mistakes are always dealt with—and resolved—at the office. “It’s a delicate balance,” he says. But “work is work and home is home.”

5. Use positive reinforcement. Don’t forget to reward and recognize a job well-done, just as you should with any employee. So if you have an employee of the month or a spot bonus program, your children should be eligible. But don’t forget sincere praise in front of your team can be a significant reward, too. When your children enjoy success at work, they grow more confident—and that will increase their ability to succeed in future endeavors.

6. Share the entrepreneurial spirit. Personally, one of the great things about working for my parents was experiencing the entrepreneurial spirit first-hand. You should share that with your children, too. Tell them about why you started the company—and why you care so much about your products or services. You might inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs, and win your kids’ respect at the same time.

Article source: Wall Street Journal

 

What do you get when America’s great commercial real estate buildup collides with America’s great corporate downsizing? A lot of vacant office space. Now it’s time to put those empty buildings back to work.

That’s the aim of a new free iPhone app called LiquidSpace, which launched in San Francisco this spring after debuting at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas.

LiquidSpace is designed to help mobile workers find a spot where they can temporarily plug in and get work done more effectively than in the back of a cab, a loud convention center hall or the narrow space between other airline passengers’ elbows. Using the location-aware LiquidSpace app, users find available workspaces nearby that meet timing needs and other requirements they specify. Spaces on the app are classified as “public” (libraries, Starbucks, etc.), “priced” (buildings that rent office space by the hour or house shared-workspace firms) and “private” (companies with empty offices they’re willing to share with partners or customers who happen to be in the neighborhood).

Building owners don’t have to let just anyone in the door who knows how to use an iPhone app. They issue virtual visas that allow them to control who gets access and when, as well as whether or not they get to return. (Note to LiquidSpace users: Do not treat workspaces like Charlie Sheen treats hotel rooms.)

At SXSW, LiquidSpace tested its concept by teaming with small-business furniture supplier Turnstone to set up temporary workspaces around a town overflowing with attendees. Paula Cavagnaro, senior director of marketing for consumer intelligence firm Motista and associate director of nonprofit WeOwnTV, used a couple of the SXSW spaces.

“I was able to post our blogs, approve some creative in process, check-in with my team in San Francisco and have a strategic meeting in the social, public space they had set up,” she says. “It was a perfect way to stay connected and still feel a part of the excitement of SXSW.”

LiquidSpace co-founder Mark Gilbreath and co-founder Doug Marinaro started the effort after noticing the trend toward work force mobilization running parallel to a real estate implosion that left large amounts of office space empty. While some temporary workspaces are free, LiquidSpace’s own liquidity relies on taking a piece of revenue from companies that lease their excess for a fee.

“What we saw during the econo-mic meltdown was a lot of underutilized space,” Gilbreath says. “Meanwhile, work is becoming more mobile and collaborative. If companies with too much space are having to make difficult decisions [about what to do], LiquidSpace lets them take the fixed expense of real estate and turn it into a variable expense.”

Article source: Entrepreneur.com

 

When Avery Walker got her MBA from the University of Houston, she never dreamed that her passion in life would involve hard hats and backhoes. In the midst of a financial career, Walker took a hiatus to raise her children. Twenty years later she was ready to get back to work, but since leaving the financial world she had developed an independent streak. The prospect of punching the corporate clock no longer appealed to her.

Instead, she and her husband, Marty, who had recently retired from the financial sector, looked around for investment opportunities. They found Volvo Rents, a franchise that rents and sells heavy equipment to construction companies and other businesses. The only problem was, the rental market at home in Austin was saturated.

So they packed up and moved to College Station, Texas, to open their business. It proved to be the right choice: While most of the construction industry has been in the doldrums the last few years, in College Station–home to Texas AM University–work has been steady. Walker hit $1.1 million in revenues in 2008, her first year in business, and $4 million last year.

We’ve heard some of your equipment is pink. Why is that?
We painted a 65-foot boom pink and set it in front of the stadium for the AM women’s basketball charity game. It’s very striking, and we rent it out to anyone who needs a 65-foot boom, so it gets hauled to various job sites around town. Once a driver who was sent to pick it up said, “I don’t want to drive a truck with a pink boom on it.” But when he came back he said people were smiling and waving and honking. We also did a smaller truck to support the Special Olympics. Hopefully our next one will be red, white and blue to support the troops.

Was it difficult moving to set up a business?
No, we love the community we picked, and we’re glad we didn’t move into a larger area. Those areas are extremely competitive with other established rental companies. It’s also harder to become a member of the community. We have really found a niche between the local mom and pops and the big-box stores.

Why did you sour on corporate life?
In the corporate world, there are a lot of extraneous activities you have to participate in and a lot of other departments and goals you have to work with. You may not be able to head off in the direction you want. In my franchise, I can make decisions about what is best for my business and for me, whether that’s purchasing equipment or opening another store. One week I might put in 60 hours and there might be another where I take more time to deal with family issues. I definitely work more than I did in a corporate job, but I have more control over our financial decisions.

Any bumps along the way?
In the beginning, I bought some equipment that didn’t get used. Fortunately, Volvo worked with us to sell it and to do swaps to acquire more equipment.

Can you run a bulldozer yet?
I like using the smaller equipment, but I don’t think you want me out there operating it for you.

Article source: Entrepreneur.com

 

Businesses expect a lot more out of their employees these days, as a visit to Rioja, the top-rated Denver restaurant, can demonstrate. If you like Rioja’s hazelnut tortamisu, thank pastry chef Eric Dale. And if you happen to pop your head into the bakery room and admire the tile job on the floor, you can thank him for that, too.

Ever since his boss, chef Jen Jasinski, discovered that Mr. Dale is handy, she’s had him doing double duty as the maintenance man. He has spent hours repainting the oven, fixing the plumbing and installing a garbage disposal. And that’s just the start. He used to manage the dessert operation at one of Ms. Jasinski’s restaurants; now he’s up to three. All told, Mr. Dale says, his hours have expanded to more than 60 a week.

In this new era of the superjob, everyone does windows, and anyone who gripes about working too hard will hear an even hairier tale from the exec on the next bar stool. Emboldened by an unemployment crisis that’s only now easing up, businesses of all sizes have asked employees to take on extra tasks that have little to do with their primary roles and expertise — with engineers going on sales calls, accountants pitching in on customer service and chief financial officers running a division on the side. And some believe this shift is permanent, as the quickening pace of change demands more flexibility from everyone at the office.

Management consultant Rich Moran, whose clients have included Apple and ATT, says employees will do whatever it takes to help their company compete: “Job descriptions are written in sand, and the wind is blowing.”

Some workplace experts say the superjob is the logical next step in management’s quest to make the workplace more cost efficient. The latest shift started when businesses redistributed the workload during the recession; last year’s nascent recovery intensified the process. In a recent survey by Spherion Staffing, 53% of workers surveyed said they’ve taken on new roles, most of them without extra pay (just 7% got a raise or a bonus). Now that sales are picking up, there’s even more work to do, but companies are reluctant to hire, say human-resources experts. Some are anxious about what the economic future holds, while others are seeing their profits increase now that their work forces are leaner.

As hard as it can be to keep up, employees can benefit from the trend. Research shows that many successful leaders grew the most through “stretch experiences,” says Seymour Adler, a senior vice president at Aon Hewitt’s talent-and-rewards practice. Still, even the most hard-nosed bosses know workers can be stretched only so far. Indeed, a recent survey from the Conference Board found that just 43% of Americans are satisfied with their job — a record low.

* * *

Assigning new roles to existing employees can be a smart move, says Debbie Zmorenski, a productivity consultant at LSA Partners in Orlando. But during the recession, instead of thoughtfully reassigning tasks based on a careful assessment of employees’ skills, many companies redistributed the workload willy-nilly and provided little training. When you send a talented but shy IT specialist out to do sales, says Ms. Zmorenski, “you’re setting him up to fail.”

Taking on extra work doesn’t necessarily mean a promotion. Some executives find themselves spending time on chores that used to be handled by junior staff. When Philadelphia-area copywriting and marketing consultant Carolyn Frith served as a marketing head for a home-fixtures manufacturer, she didn’t mind proofing the price book while her product manager went on maternity leave. And when the security guard got laid off, and it fell on her to dial in the security codes for the parking-lot gates? Well, why not? The only problem: “It was hard to find time to plan strategy and meet with customers,” she says.

If you’re wondering why it’s hard to juggle new roles, ask a neuroscientist. Recent research suggests that multitasking can reduce productivity, because it takes a ton of mental energy to switch from one task to the next. The sheer number of hours demanded by the superjob also can impair your performance as your brain gets fatigued, says Susan Koen, an organizational psychologist and consultant whose clients include Pfizer, Alcoa and Procter Gamble.

To their credit, some employers are doing more to help their superstars. And companies that saw a rebound in 2010 are helping executives with time management and delegation.

Another popular tactic: recognition programs that reward employees for taking on extra work. Major companies are turning to software “wizards” that dole out laurels on preset, automated schedules, says Adrian Gostick, a co-author of “The Carrot Principle” and a former vice president at employee-recognition consultancy O.C. Tanner.

Of course, the ultimate responsibility for workload management falls to the employee. Experts say that in many cases, employers have no idea how many tasks they’ve loaded on one person, so workers have to “manage up.”

Chris Perry, a Parsippany, N.J.-based brand manager responsible for a $65 million product line, says he’s thriving after a recent promotion, thanks to his careful efforts to set limits. In order to spend evenings with his wife, he starts his workday early — and often sends a few morning emails to make sure the effort gets noticed. When he’s overwhelmed with projects, he asks top brass to clarify their priorities.

Still, Mr. Perry admits he’s often tempted to work late when he sees his co-workers doing so. “It’s hard to play that game of impression versus reality,” he says.

By ANNE KADET

Article source: Wall Street Journal

 

Let’s say you are quite happy and content with the state of your business . . .

What the heck is going on?  Businesses that are growing and developing should never be “happy and content.”  People can be happy, but business owners should always be seeking to keep sharpening that edge that made them successful in the first place.  You — the entrepreneur, the owner and manager in chief — must be restless in pursuit of ever-higher levels of performance.  If you don’t pursue excellence, nobody in your business is going to either.

On the desk of a particular chief executive at a major enterprise who started out as a man with a dream and home-equity loan and built his company into a juggernaut is a sign that reads as follows:

The Boss Is Not Happy!

This was his way of declaring war first on himself and second on everyone who worked on his team.  It was not destructive, mean spirited or evil.  It was instead a perpetual battle against the cancer of complacency that can and will inevitably set in when the leader gets “happy and content” with the state of her business.  To build profitable, proud, innovative and truly productive businesses that meet the ultimate test of being scalable and sustainable, we all must declare war on our own sense of complacency and never relent.

So how do we go about declaring war on complacency?

Stop asking if your customers/clients are satisfied. Satisfied customers are easy prey for aggressive competitors.  Satisfied customers will switch on a dime when somebody else comes in with a lower price or a promotional special.  We have to raise the bar, and create a new standard: Thrilling the people we serve.  When you are thrilled you are a customer for life.

Get out of the office and into the field. Do the “dirty work” now and then because it’s not really “dirty” to get behind the grill and cook a burger, show a guest to a room, answer the phones when the public calls.  When Charles Revson was building Revlon into a powerhouse, he would allocate part of his time manning the customer complaint line.  Things look different on the front lines than they do from the office.

Of course you still have to spend most of your time making leadership decisions, but if you watch Undercover CEO, you will see that every time the boss goes out and does what she used to think was below her, she comes away with a powerful epiphany.  Leading from an ivory tower is not leading . . . it’s watching.  People don’t respond to commands, they respond to inspiration.  Leaders can only inspire when they are on the ground with their team.  Commands from a distant office are ignored, disregarded, or carried out in a half-hearted manner.  To lead your team effectively, you must be able to look them in the eye.

Terminate anyone on your payroll you have warned about their sub-par performance, but you have failed to cut the chord because you don’t want to be disliked or you feel sorry for them.  Business is not a popularity contest, and you probably wouldn’t win even if it was.  Making an exception for one slacker is a slippery slope that almost always leads to a systemic problem: a “can’t do” culture.  The most important part of standards is to ensure that they apply to everybody, especially yourself.

Give yourself a pay cut any year the company under-performs. You need to feel the pain too.  Sitting alone in an isolated bubble of generous compensation removes the hunger, the drive, the rubber hits the road mindset that keeps companies alive, agile and vital in spite of the inevitable challenges they will face.  Make it easy to see that you are held to the same (or higher) standards than your people.  Leaders who refuse to sacrifice during times of difficulty fail to inspire greatness . . . their people will only work hard enough to keep from being fired.

Ultimately, being a business owner means consistently pushing the limits of achievement.  Your skill in compelling the people you work with to achieve greater heights is the fundamental hallmark of effective leadership.  Use that drive and ambition that caused you to start a business in the first place, and continually push for new achievements.

Article source: Entrepreneur.com

 

One of the common themes in success authors such as Napoleon Hill is the notion that people are frequently more successful when engaged in a line of work that they enjoy.  To these people, their work is much more than something they do in exchange for a paycheck.  It rises to a form of artistic expression or occupational poetry.  This phenomenon is extremely important, as artists frequently go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that their works are exceptional.  Similarly, businesspeople who view their work as a form of art will go to great amounts of effort to ensure that they are delivering the best value to their customers.

Most people familiar with the open source WordPress software suite have seen the phrase “Code is Poetry” on the site homepage.  Software programmers have a long history of viewing their work as a form of art.  To an astute programmer, the greatest achievements come from writing critical operations that can be done very simply and elegantly, without creating a large mess of complicated code that burdens the processing power of the computers operating it.  In this way, art is created by means of an efficient program that accomplishes its goals with a minimal amount of overhead.

For people seeking to lift the prospects of their business or their career, they would be well advised to elevate their work up from an occupation to the status of artistic expression or poetry.  Taking pride in the quality and output of your work is one of the most notable features for prominent artists.  This means that giving your best and being the most creative is done not just to earn income, but because you have a burning desire to be the best that you are capable of.

The supreme power of this burning desire is that it helps us to unlock our inner genius.  Most people have within them the seeds of greatness in some occupation or calling.  The trick is finding those seeds and cultivating them to fruition.  The first step on the path to accomplishing this goal is the realization that nobody else will cultivate those seeds for you.  The creative genius that lies dormant within your mind can only be discovered and used by you.  This is a journey that each person must take for themselves. People can help you, guide you, and advise you, but nobody can take this trek of discovery on your behalf.

Because of this, many people go throughout their entire lives without ever discovering their inner genius.  Life becomes a drudgery of working and watching the clock to see when quitting time is going to come.   The elevation of your work to a form of art is an integral part of unlocking the creative abilities of your mind.  It is only by becoming aware of the opportunities around you that your full genius can be brought to bear.  For the people who learn to master this art, the world becomes an eternal oyster of endless opportunity.  The only question that remains to be answered is whether you are willing to invest the effort to discover the genius that lives inside of you.

 

One of the popular sayings in Finance is that “Money Never Sleeps”.  This is a reference to the fact that when money is placed at work for you, it works relentlessly in your favor.  Money placed at interest accrues minute by minute, day by day, week by week, and year by year.  Regardless of whether you are awake or asleep, money placed to work on your behalf continues to produce benefits like a faithful servant that never tires and never rests.

In this way, it is quite possible to create a personal financial empire where the “sun never sets” . . . similar to what was once said of the British Empire.  The important part of creating this kind of affluence is to gain ownership of assets that produce value without the necessity of your time.  In this way, each additional dollar that you place in your service will work tirelessly to make you wealthy.

The other side of this phenomenon is that when money is working against you in the form of debt, then it tirelessly and relentlessly destroys your wealth.  Each passing day brings a larger bill that will be due in the future.  As we can see, money has the power both to create and destroy our financial affluence.  It is a tool . . . a powerful tool that is blind to what ends it is serving.  It makes no distinction whether you are well meaning or evil hearted.  It is because of this blind power that is implicit in money that we must endeavor to understand it more completely.

Consider that not all things you do to make money will help you to become wealthy.  Some activities are extremely time intensive, extremely risky, or both.  Some of these things can be done for a short period of time, but if they are carried out indefinitely, it will be extremely difficult to achieve happiness.  Also consider that not all debt is necessarily destructive.  If you can borrow for a low rate of interest and earn a higher rate of return through business or investment dealings, you have made everybody involved better off.

In the end, mastery of money is ultimately about mastering ourselves.  To place money in work for our advantage, we must become educated and seek out opportunities.  To avoid becoming a servant to money, we must learn to control our desires and delay gratification until it is within our financial means.  By accomplishing this mastery over ourselves, each of us have the ability to create a future of wealth and abundance for both ourselves and the people we care about.