Jan 31 2012

It’s A Miracle!

Miracles Will Never Cease!

                                                            

It’s true. As long as you work harder and not smarter (Ask those who succeed instead of those who teach!), stay perpetually positive, appreciate those who support you, believe in yourself, and pray to and trust in God, you can boost your odds for success right through the roof! 

~~~~~~~

Here’s what happened. So many of you (Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.) have posted and called and emailed me with your warm wishes and prayers during this family trauma period that has absorbed me over the last few weeks, that I’m convinced you made a difference.

The emotional roller coaster is finally slowing down.

The daily episodes of great mental, emotional and physical stress are giving way to what all the doctors and nurses and others involved are now saying was a true miracle.

After racing her unconscious to the ER, followed by two weeks in intensive care including ten days in a coma, literally no one expected to see her survive.

Kathy, my wife of 25 years, is now alive and thriving. With her life hanging by a thread, no one had given her a chance . . . no one except Kathy. It all came down to her and God.

She is –Hallelujah, and thanks be to God– more alive now than she has ever been!

Those who visited her early on, who saw her with tubes in her throat, her nose, her fingers, hands, arms and legs –a medical marionette– with dials,  switches, beeps, graphs and blinking numbers coming from nearly two dozen monitors, do not believe her now. Five days later, she is walking, talking, eating, joking, and remembering details.

But she wasn’t given a chance of even surviving.

And what does this have to do with small business and personal development? Everything. There can be no greater fight than fighting to live. Whether it’s a battle for business survival, or –and I truly hope you never go through what Kathy and I experienced– your life or the life of a loved one, you can never be too prepared.

Like  children getting their value systems in order before the age of five, we need to work hard at cultivating and growing our fortitude, attitude, authenticity, integrity, self-esteem and self-confidence, our spirituality and love for life every day.

Every day. Because –like a fire extinguisher, parachute, healthy body, and alert mind– self-reliance marks a winner.

Kathy is a winner. I am so proud of her, and so grateful for what one doctor called her “absolutely astonishing will power.” From this perspective of reality, I have decided to continue with my blog posts on a two or three times a week basis, instead of daily, as it’s pretty much been since April, 2008. Life is simply too important.

Thank you, all my thousands of blog visitors and Twitter friends. You are amazing!

I will hope to keep hosting your visits here two or three days a week. God Bless You. 

                                                           

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Dec 27 2011

The BEST 10 STEPS for 2012

The best New Year’s

                               

 message I can share

                                

  with you comes…

                                                                          

 . . . from one of my life’s heroes, Dr. Wayne Dyer.

                                          

It’s a 10-Point Pursuit Plan that I’ve dressed up a bit for the occasion, for your business, for your SELF, and to share with your family. If you succeed at making only HALF of these actually work consistently, I GUARANTEE that this coming year will be as happy, healthy and prosperous for you as humanly possible.

                                    

DO YOUR SELF, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR BUSINESS A FAVOR and read these ten points aloud to yourself. Write them down. Carry them in your wallet/pocketbook/briefcase. Tape a copy to your bathroom mirror, your dashboard, your computer workstation, inside your desk drawer, your workout bag, your refridgerator, the closet bar that holds your hangers.

READ AND RECITE before you go to bed, when you wake up, and any other time you can squeeze it into your day. You will positively amaze yourself with the results after just 21 days, and it’s FREE!! Go for it!

1. Want more for others than you do for yourself.

2. See yourself already having what you seek.

3. Be an appreciator of everything in your life as much as you can throughout each day, every day.

4. Stay in touch with your own and other positive human energy sources, and laugh as hard and often as you can.

5. Understand resistence, and help yourself and others to go with the flow.

6. Imagine yourself surrounded by the conditions you want to produce.

7. Understand the path of least resistence.

8. Practice radical humility.

9. Be in a constant state of gratitude.

10. You can never resolve a problem by condemning it.

 

If you think you’re going to give up on this, don’t start it. A little bite will only leave a bad taste.

BUT if you think you have what it takes to get your act together and take it on the road, if you think you have enough self-discipline to follow and practice the behaviors these 10 points suggest, you will positively succeed — even against all odds. Remember these 10 points are all about behavior. Behavior is a choice!

~~~~~~~

More FREE insights on

 2012 “LEADERSHIP”?

Come visit me at TBD Consulting’s Jonena Relth’s site and comment on my Guest Blog posts:

LEADERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

“I” IS FOR INTEGRITY

and  “T” IS FOR TRUST.  

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Oct 24 2011

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES…”I”

 “I”…INTEGRITY 

 

“Integrity is

doing the right thing

even when no one is watching.”

–  C.S. Lewis

A person of integrity. Everyone wants the label, but few ever earn it. What’s the roadblock? Human nature. It’s in our bones that when push comes to shove in times of trouble, and having integrity implies being generous — we tend instead to recoil and become selfish.

Integrity means keeping your promises. It means standing up for what you believe in no matter the cost. It suggests honorable behavior in the face of temptation to be dishonorable. What kinds of behavior constitute “dishonorable”? Surely, you can think of examples. Here are a few:

  • A business owner who consistently sells used or outdated products or services as new
  • An investor seeking 70% ownership in a business startup venture for cash infusion that represents just a dollar-value fraction of the entrepreneur’s confirmed and already contributed sweat equity.
  • A professional practice partner recruited under the guise of promised freedom to function in her area of specialization who is back-seated into generalist tasks through a contractual loophole.
  • A business partner who accepts responsibility for operations, but then instead spends fulltime efforts in sales which he knows nothing about.
  • The boss who repeatedly gets in the face of irate customers, rather than simply satisfying customer requests –even unreasonable ones.
  • The verbally-agreed-to partnership that’s thrown to the wind when one of the founders is introduced (by the discounted partner) to a money source . . . and the money source himself, who clearly places no value on the relationship or the investment opportunity.
  • Successful business owner refusal to provide growth opportunities for entry-level employees because increasing their responsibilities will force increased compensation packages.

The Dash To Integrity

                                      

Being selfish, as in greedy and being unnecessarily protective, is not the same as being self-ish as in “oriented toward one’s self,” which is a positive direction for personal growth.

Being tuned in to what makes you tick is the most effective tool available on the planet for having a better sense of how to deal most productively and most happily with others.

In fact, being self-ish is a direct road to integrity.

 Odd, isn’t it that a dash between “self” and “ish”

can make such a dramatic difference?

                                

Truth is that when we can be more focused on HOW we choose certain behaviors, we can then be more focused on improving ourselves by improving our own behaviors, which better equips us as leaders to more positively impact other’s behaviors.

It may be worth the reminder, by the way, that all of these actions build character and integrity.

All these actions are also choices. So the place to start or re-start yourself on the path to higher integrity –for yourself and your business– is to recognize that you can take initiative at the drop of a hat, or iPad. Simply make more choices in favor of integrity, and know that you are free to make those choices beginning this second! 

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Oct 17 2011

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES… “D”

Welcome to the world’s first

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES of blog posts — 

 

“D”…DELEGATION

 

 Does it make a big difference if I tell you 

to do something . . . or ask you to do it?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                        

Telling you what to do might work out fine in the military, or aboard a plane or boat, or operating heavy equipment . . . or if you’re a prisoner, a horse, or a Cocker Spaniel.

But, in business, unless you –the owner or manager– need to prompt cooperation with others to get a job done, the results you’ll trigger by giving directives cannot compare with the response you’ll get from making a request, which can be astonishing. And when was the last time you got great results from giving orders?

US President and General Dwight David Eisenhower taught his senior officers how to exercise leadership by pushing a tangle of string across a tabletop vs. taking one end and pulling it, which of course ended with the string in a straight line moving in a single direction, instead of a jumble going nowhere.

Yes, sincerity, genuineness, eye contact, backpats, your posture, tone of voice, and and smiles often make the difference. So does the reputation you carry for having integrity and authenticity — perhaps the two most important qualities an entrepreneur can have on the road to success.

And, interestingly, integrity and authenticity are ever too late to cultivate.

Well, okay, you know all that, but how far must you go with the “please” and “thank you” routine? Truth? You’ll never go far enough, and if it’s actually become “routine,” go back to your cave.

Here are a few treasured learnings I can share:

  • Even when we think we know, little do we ever really know about what life circumstances will bring, and where we’ll end up with our businesses in the years ahead.

  • I have seen discounted, dismissed, dissed and insulted employees turn up years later being the bosses of those who once humiliated and looked down on them.

  • I have seen long-term top customers walk away from businesses in an instant after learning about relatives (a son, in one case) who worked for the provider business, unbeknownst to the boss, who were routinely berated, chastised, scolded, yelled at and wrongly blamed for screw-ups.

  • I have personally watched businesses run by owners who were rude, constantly preoccupied, always angry, and routinely barking out orders . . . go down and under.

Do you –like the carpenter and heart surgeon– make a practice of measuring twice and cutting once? Do you think twice before speaking once?

Remember

you can delegate authority,

but you cannot delegate

responsibility.

Responsibility is yours alone.

When you ask peopleto get things done, asking nicely is not manipulation, it’s respect. Use words that inspire and that demonstrate your passion for your business: opportunity, challenge, reward, investment, courage, pride, workmanship, spirit, spunk, gumption (add your own) . . . the right words make your passion contagious.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0911

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Jul 10 2011

The 8th Secret

Ever notice how the

                         

number “7” is magic??

                                                                             

Well here, entrepreneurs,

                      

is number 8!

                                                           
With special thanks to www.Twitter.com/RealLifeSecrets for the first 7 one-word “secrets to life” — Listen, Read, Love, Fight, Believe, Live, Pray. You can follow @reallifesecrets for more.  

                                                                                                                            

 

Okay, so: 3 wishes and 3 kings. But there are SEVEN of everything else — 7 seas, 7 habits, 7 brides, 7/11, John Elway and Mickey Mantle, The “Number of Perfection” in the Bible, so why shouldn’t there be 7 secrets of life? And why should there be anything else besides: 1) Listen, 2) Read, 3) Love, 4) Fight, 5) Believe, 6) Live, and 7) Pray?

Oh, but there is. There’s one more. Can you think of what it might be? I mean, just imagine, if you’ve done all those great seven things consistently, what else could possibly matter? What else could be so powerful? A number 8? Seriously?

                                                                    

We’ve learned that effective managers, salespeople and professionals typically spend 8o% of their interactive time with others: LISTENING. So that first one certainly makes sense. And except maybe for the guy who invented fire, I’ve never heard of anyone becoming truly successful without reading, as much as possible, as often as possible.

Oh, some entrepreneurs may run successful businesses and possibly even successful families without reading, but they probably are not successful with their own physical and/or emotional health. Or they may have great health and successful businesses with no satisfying family life. You get the idea. Listening and Reading are a package deal. 

Love. There’s that word. It reminds me, by the way, to suggest you check out Rob Bell’s vigorously debated new book, LOVE WINS. Besides smashing lots of theories and age-old teachings, it’s a smashing (provocative, quick, and illuminating) read. Love. So craved. So sought after. So misunderstood, So indispensable. So strengthening.

                                                                   

Surely, you can add your own “descriptives,” but suffice it to say that Love is certainly worthy of being one of the magical seven. Then there is “Fight.” A peculiar item on the list? Not really. My college motto in Latin: Certa Bonum Certamen” (“Fight the good fight”) — ah, yes, in that light of “Standing Tall,” who could find fault?

Believe. Well, without that, there can be little of worth remaining, true? But every true entrepreneur believes in what she or he is doing, so not much need to dwell on this one. Now: Live. This is something only a few entrepreneurs –the successful ones– actually do. Not nightly partying. Daily enjoyment of being alive.

Ah, and then there’s: Pray. If you haven’t in awhile, I recommend you get on with it — more than you think you should. If you already do this, do more. Many of the most successful business owners and managers I’ve known (of thousands) make a point of praying dozens of times each day. Not just requests. Prayers of gratitude.

[Are you thankful for your vision that allows you to read this right now? Room temperature? The chair you’re in? Your last meal? Your next? Your family?]

                                                                               

So you’ve labored through all this just to see what Number 8 is all about. If you haven’t yet figured it out, you won’t be disappointed. It is the one secret of life that’s joined at the hip with all the rest: Be Honest! Nothing speaks higher of your integrity, reputation, intent, and authenticity as a person.

If you seek trust, be trustworthy.  

                                                                                       

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Hal@Businessworks.US  931.854.0474

  Open minds open doors.

 Thanks for visiting and God bless you.

   Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jun 04 2011

Moments of No Return.

Your salespeople may be

                                                         

costing you more

                           

than sales!

                                            

 

Not unlike a new puppy, new (and old) salespeople who aren’t trained properly are likely to mess things up. In the end, they’ll cost you more than sales. Remember it’s your name, your image, your integrity, your authenticity, and your reputation on the line every time one of them opens her or his mouth or taps out a keyboard message.

 _______________________________                                                     

For your (actual, but names changed) Scenerio Pleasure . . . 

“Good Morning.Thank you for calling B. Bigg Sportswear. This is Sally. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Sally! I’m Larry from LLL –that’s Little Losers Limited– and I’m looking for B. Bigg, please; can you connect me?”  

“Er, no, B. Bigg is not here. In fact, ther…”

(Stepping on the end of her sentence) “Well when will ‘B.’ be back?”

(Realizing she has a sales spammer on the line, and smiling, since “B. Bigg” is a fictitious brand name) “Oh, eight and a half weeks!”

She chuckles and starts to explain that she’s kidding, but Larry interrupts her again . . .

“Alright,well, since I met with B.Bigg downtown there the last time I was in the area, I’ll just call back then; no need to leave a message.”

“Right.Well you have a nice day, Larry from LLL!” (now laughing to herself as she hangs up since –on top of there being no B. Bigg– the “town” has only 450 residents in it and the only place to meet is the gas-station-convenience-store).

Sally can’t wait to tell Mr. Star (company president, and retired world-class athlete with lots of industry connections) about the call. He will no doubt comment on how befitting Larry’s company name is.

_______________________                        

We all know about no such thing as a second first impression, but how often do we take the trouble to monitor the first impressions our salespeople are putting out. Appropriate, targeted, perceptive training short-circuits these “moments of no return.”

So, what’s the solution? Be –and stay– on top of your salespeople until you are confident that they are representing you and your business in as professional a manner as you want them to. This doesn’t mean “get on their case.” What it means is to make sure you provide them with the proper training (and re-training) and support — ongoing!

In life and work,

one-night stands never work!

                                                                             

A bad economy is not a legitimate reason to slack off in this pursuit. Just consider where you’d be without sales and with a bad reputation. Reinforcement at every level is critical in sales management.

If you are too busy owning and operating, or if you’re just not cut out to be a sales manager, go get one. Get the best person you can find –NOT the best salesperson — the best sales manager.

Great Salespeople Do Not

Make Great Sales Managers!

                                                          

Some outstanding resources you can count on to steer you in the right direction:

Doyle Slayton www.SalesBlogCast.com

Jonena Relth www.TBDConsulting,com

Meredith Bell www.YourVoiceOfEncouragement.com  

 

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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!

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Mar 28 2011

The Recession Still Roars

Reported today on Sirius radio’s America’s Newsroom . . .

One of every eight American

                            

homes now stands empty! 

 

Based on today’s news . . .

This “one out of eight” no doubt

                             

includes The White House!

 

 

Double-speak –such as that evidenced in tonight’s feeble address by Mr. Obama in attempting to justify his unauthorized headstrong reaction (instead of a measured response) to the challenges and sickness of another nation’s madman leader– doesn’t work for America’s people.

And guess what? Double-speak also doesn’t work for the business you own and/or run and/or manage.

Small business owners, first of all, know instinctively how to practice responding instead of reacting.

If we don’t, we’re out of business. Period.                

  • It is lack of leadership that has emptied American homes. It is lack of leadership that has led America to falter and approach other nations balanced on weak knees.

  • Lack of leadership is what brings down business enterprises and national governments alike. Clearly, America’s White House is as empty as the two suits that run our country.

  • Lack of leadership, in the form of poor management, is responsible for 9 out of 11 new businesses failing within the first 2-3 years of existence (source: The SBA)  

~~~~~~~~

                                                                                          

We —as small business owners and managers, and entrepreneurs– must learn from this place in history.

Incompetent leadership cannot be covered up with great oratory and superficial reasoning. We, the electorate see through it. While the facade pictures that are verbally painted may convince those who know not how to think for themselves, they no longer appease or hook those with intelligence.

When we cover up business incompetence, we lose customers; we go bankrupt. We lose.

If you or I were to run our businesses with the same Johnny-come-lately, wimpy, and universally arrogant intervention approaches that were expressed tonight by Mr. Obama, God bless us all.

He has done everything possible to undermine and smother small business because he fails utterly to understand it. He has in the process led us into world disgrace. His assessments –in addition to being unrealistic– are inflammatory to say the least. Talk about pouring gasoline on a fire!

You and I cannot make our business problems go away by giving a political speech and calling it an “explanation.”

We cannot avert financial collapse by offering endless apologies (or simply printing new money!).

We cannot achieve success by concentrating on competitors. 

                                                                 

Sad and unfortunate as it is, thousands of people die every day by acts of terrorism. When –and before– those forces become genuine threats to our existence, we need to act quickly and decisively and unapologetically to protect and preserve our interests.

Do we like what’s happening in Libya? Of course not. But Libya offers no such threat to America. The more the U.S. tries to become the world’s police force, the less effective the U.S. becomes. The more your business tries to monopolize a profession, industry, or marketplace, the less effective it becomes. But you already know that!

Do we like what all our competitors are doing. Of course not. Do we engage them apologetically and make that be productive for us? Are you kidding? Those who succeed in business are those who focus on their businesses, not on what other businesses are doing, or not doing, that may be distasteful. 

When it’s possible to help other businesses without putting your own at risk, go for it! Until then, strengthen yourself so you can get to that point. That works for business and business works! Being consistently authentic and honest and demonstrating integrity works for business too. Will shallow-minded ego-crazed politicians ever get it?    

 

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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!

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Oct 16 2010

Consistency Sells.

Q. What if it walks like a duck

                                

 and quacks like a duck, but 

                                      

 looks like a tyrannosaurus rex?

 

A. You’ve got trouble. . . 

                                       

right here in River City!

 

And if we’re talking about A~N~Y aspect of your business, you can be sure that your customers will have even bigger problems than you, which is not a good thing.

Take it from experience, the last thing you want is for your customers to be confused, because confusion doesn’t just cost you patronage; it costs you your reputation. All the good things you’ve done, and are doing, get flushed away with one jerk of the handle.

Anything that costs your reputation, costs you sales to existing customers, and costs you prospective customers too. Like winning sports teams, businesses that offer consistency succeed. Attitude consistency is paramount.

From McDonald’s to Charles Schwab, from Hershey’s to Microsoft, from Federal Express to Wal-Mart, consistency of products and services (and of innovation, operations, marketing and sales) is what puts businesses like these over the top.

                                                               

Consistency doesn’t mean having inventories that collect dust or never trying new methods or line extensions, or always doing the exact same things in the exact same ways. Those are investments in maintaining the status quo — a boring and unhealthy practice.

Consistency means carrying integrity and leadership and customer service to the extreme every day of your life that your business exists. It means maintaining and nurturing one strong, simple, single image throughout all the ways you represent yourself to the rest of the world.

It doesn’t matter if some people don’t like your image or your message. What does matter is that your image and message is consistent and delivered consistently across the boards…in your advertising, marketing, promotional and PR efforts, online and off…all of the time, without exception.

You know that repetition sells.

Repetition sells.

Repetition sells.

                                                                                

Repeating what you do and the ways that you do it, over and over, is the best way to build and strengthen a loyal following. Ask any stage performer, producer, or director.

In that sense, you are no different. You are on your business stage every day (and often at night), and your performance (what you have to offer and the ways you offer it) is being judged by others all of the time, even when you’re not aware of having an audience. 

Look at it this way you want to get in better physical shape, but can’t make that happen by eating ice cream, candy and fried foods,  drinking heavily and smoking cigars only on weekends and justifying it by taking a long walk on Sunday afternoon.

Like building a healthy life, building a healthy business is a full time commitment to consistency.

If your business walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, don’t make it something it’s not. Consistency sells.

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 Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US        or comment below

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

 Make today a GREAT Day for someone!

 

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Aug 18 2010

ADVERTISING NO-NO’s

Nine “Do Not” lessons

                                         

learned from 30+ years 

                                               

of sales-winning advertising

                                                                                                                                             

I know, accenting the negative isn’t always the best thing, but if you know what NOT to do, it’s a lot easier to figure out what you can and should do. I don’t pretend to know what you can and should do, but I sure can tell you what I’ve found out that doesn’t work (and throw in a few hints about stuff I know that works better!).

Here’s the scoop:

1. Do NOT advertise that you have integrity, or even about what wonderful integrity-inspiring things you or your business have done. When you conduct business at all levels with a high-trust approach and attitude, you will gain or boost a reputation for integrity that speaks for itself!

2. (…and this is really #1): Here is the single most difficult marketing, advertising, sales and PR challenge to face for all businesses everywhere (yes, you did indeed read that right: “all businesses everywhere”)– ready for this? — Do NOT promote how great you are to the rest of the world. Nobody cares. Well, maybe your mother cares, but nobody else does.

3. Do NOT get too cutesy. Readability must come before cleverness in font (lettering) use and treatments (Italics, boldfacing, spacing, underlining, shadowing, using a horseshoe for the letter “U” or crossed swords for “X” or an egg for “O”…etc.). And don’t trust a designer to worry about readability; most have no training or experience in how to design with and around text, especially branding lines.

4. Do NOT emphasize product and service features. Nobody buys features. People buy benefits. Make sure your marketing, advertising, sales, promotion and PR efforts focus on benefits — on answering the question, what’s in it for me?

5. Do NOT buy into fancy dog and pony presentations that stress how the work a creative service provider individual or organization or group or team can do for you will put you head and shoulders above the rest of your industry or profession. Get rid of creative service providers who seem more interested in winning awards for themselves than in making sales for you. Use performance incentives.

6. Do NOT ever accept a media rate that’s printed on a “rate card” or “rate sheet.” Think of it as the asking price for a house just put on the market this morning. Media people who aren’t willing to work with your budget aren’t worth your time and consideration. There are always other ways to market your business.

7. Do NOT try to hand-off advertising/marketing/PR responsibilities to someone who works with you because they articulate well or can write a mean email. And don’t try to do it yourself unless it’s what you specialize in. Remember that there are two success keys involved: writing skill and psychology expertise. Persuading customer and prospect brains is what it’s all about. 

8. Do NOT communicate too little or too much. Ask prospects and customers what they think the right amount of information is. Have someone who’s experienced at it run a focus group for you to get these answers, and to test alternative marketing approaches. 7 target market representatives for an hour works for this purpose. Give each a $20-$25 value reward for their participation.

9. Do NOT “settlefor ads, commercials, websites, landing pages, blogs, brochures, news releases, or social media executions or strategies that don’t feel right! If you don’t feel sure about something, remember it’s your business. Your gut instinct is your best decision maker.   

                                                                   

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 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!

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Jan 04 2010

THE RAPE OF SMALL BUSINESS

“We cannot afford another

                                         

year like last year, and survive!”

                                                                                                             –A farmer, a doctor, and two retailers

     Whether America’s Federal Government is small business ignorant, or small business hostile –and surely it has proven to be at least one of these — makes little difference.

     In the end, you need to accept that politicians with zero business experience surrounded by advisors with zero business experience are on the cusp of running America’s businesses into the ground.

     Accept it, dismiss it, and get on with life.

     Why? Because this isn’t football. The more energy you expend worrying and fretting about the opposition — the more attention you divert from growing your own business — the less effective, less productive, and less efficient you and your people become.

     This isn’t football. It’s rape. Over-dramatic? No.

     Small business people are being violated every day by political zealots who haven’t a clue about the daily outpouring of blood, sweat and tears that go into owning and operating and managing and growing a business.

     We are about to be overrun by a healthcare reform plan that forces increased government control on our lives, even to the point of imposing fines on those who don’t buy in and that force us to see providers we don’t choose.

    This so-called “healthcare” plan in fact addresses just about every subject under the sun except healthcare. And it fails to foster (or even acknowledge) the necessary lifeblood of effective healthcare reform: free market price competition. Oh, and we’ll all be paying for it for decades. 

     We are looking at a cap and trade plan that forces increased government control on our lives, even to the point of preventing us from selling our own homes unless they measure up to expensive and meaningless government imposed standards. Oh, and we’ll all be paying for it for decades.

     We are days away from an utterly meaningless Senate jobs bill which pumps up government jobs and puts some totally confusing tax-credit bait on the end of the fishing line for all those small business owners who have nothing to do except pour through paperwork trying to figure out how to qualify (or who will have to pay through the nose for CPAs and tax attorneys to do it for them).

     Maybe small businesses should get subsidized for creating work for CPAs and lawyers?

     So, what’s the way out?

     There’s one way out and very little choice involved. Here’s the solution: Charge forward with your head down and work your butt off at customer cultivation and customer service. Remember how you felt when you started your business or manager job? Kinda like that.

     What else? You need to take even more innovative approaches to developing your products, services, markets and ideas.

     Anything more? Yes, you must continually add value to everything you sell.

     And, above all, you need to do whatever is necessary to maintain high-level trust and integrity reputations with every customer, prospect, associate, employee, vendor, referrer, visitor, and community you serve … with every encounter, every day.

Your personal authenticity and the authenticity of your business will rise above the tumolt and threats and deceptiveness and empty promises. And when you succeed for yourself, you will be succeeding for many. 

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More on 2010 “LEADERSHIP”? Come visit me and comment on my Guest Blog post at TBD Consulting’s Jonena Relth’s site http://bit.ly/XhN1h

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Reply Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US (Subject: “Blog”) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day!  Blog FREE via list-protected RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon KindleGreat 2010 Gift for GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

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