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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: business ownership
Branch Mentality and Sanctuary Cities
Every multi-unit company suffers from branch mentality. I’ve worked with many, and no matter how much they promote a corporate culture and team spirit, branch mentality creeps in sometimes. It comes in two versions; the outposts’ attitude and the headquarter’s … Continue reading
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Resisting Technology
A substantial number of business owners are still resisting technology. Clearly, they can’t be doing so in the expectation that it will go away. The only possible rationale is that it could hurt their business. One laggard in adopting technology … Continue reading
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Bah Humbug! Remembering Mr. Fezziwig
To celebrate the holiday, I’m reprinting a post from 2012 about the underappreciated boss of A Christmas Carol, Mr. Fezziwig. I hope that you enjoy it. Merry Christmas! Last week was the 170th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ … Continue reading
2 Responses to Bah Humbug! Remembering Mr. Fezziwig
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Thank you John!
Old Fezziwig has been a role model for me for years because of the way Scrooge explains to the ghost why Fezziwig was beloved. “He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil….The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.”
What a privilege it is to give happiness to others!
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How Much Does that Gorilla Weigh?
How much does that (fill in your preferred number here) pound gorilla weigh? I always refer to an 800 pound gorilla, but I’ve heard others use everything from a 400 pound gorilla (which is pretty close to their real size) to … Continue reading
2 Responses to How Much Does that Gorilla Weigh?
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This is a great post John.
I think it’s fair to say that most of us in the small business community have had to deal with gorillas in our respective industries. They are usually customers, but can also be competitors or vendors.
In the past year, we have dealt with many issues in which we have been dictated to by gorilla customers. One very large pharma company changed their terms to Net 90, another required us to pay a $2000 fee to order to do business with them, and another required us to pay for a system that they implemented that tracks their/our safety program.
In all three cases, the outcome could have hurt us as a small business. Net 90 terms could crush us on large projects, the $2000 fee was more than the profit we would have made on the project, and the safety program requires considerable time and effort on our part in order to maintain compliance.
In all three examples, we prevailed. Our relationship with the customers in all three cases was so strong, that all it took was a conversation with the local decision makers. They were sympathetic to our situation, and worked with us to come up with solution. In one case, they agreed to allow us to invoice them for all of the parts at the start of the project, giving us an extra 30 days, ultimately reducing the net 90 terms to net 45. In the other two cases, our local contacts allowed us to add the costs we incurred to the project.
In my experience, when you explain the hardship the gorillas policies place on our business; reason prevails and an acceptable solution is the result.
Happy Holidays,
Eric
In my other life, while being a Corporate person, I became completely entrenched in the Corporate philosophy based on expectations, performance, strategic direction, planning, bench mark standards, consistency of customer relations, product quality, performance guarantees, and team work and development of personnel. These points worked well and the Corporation met financial expectations in the marketplace and stayed ahead of the competition that was consistently on our heals. If there was a ‘sanctuary’ location it would have not worked… the same goes for cities that believe they should be ‘sanctuary’ city on the Federal dime. Cut off the Federal dime if they are allowed to maintain a ‘sanctuary’ city., Consistency should be paramount across the USA.
John
I think you left a key level off – that is multi – national. I used to work for an Australian Bank who we referred to as IAW – standing for “In Australia We” . This was how they started the sentence to talk down to you whether I was in London or Auckland.
There is a whole subject here on cultural or market differences – my experience is Australia, NZ, UK, Canada and USA are all very different and despite being in the same industry you need to be careful with acquisitions!