Why don't businesses care?

We have all been there.  We have gone to a store that we enjoy shopping at because they are friendly and they always give you good customer service and we find that the person we liked no longer works there or that the business was sold and the new people just are not as friendly and they have changed the policy that they had.  You don't have as good of an experience and you decide to find a new place to shop. 

I agree with the Harvard Mentor Manager that many companies don't care if you come back and shop there again.  They feel the way to get business is to advertise so they can get more new customers and they don't care about the ones they already have.  The local cable company is like that.  They give you an initial deal where they "bundle" your cable, phone, and internet for a low monthly fee of over a hundred dollars.  If you decide you don't want the "bundle" you then pay almost a hundred dollars for just one of the services.  After a year you find that your "bundle" isn't all that great and that they are now offering a new, better and cheaper bundle.  Because you are already a customer of their they don't want to give you the new bundle and they have nothing to offer you.  They don't really seem to care if you stay with them or go, you are just a computer number and name to them and computers really don't care. 

It is the same with your bank, your Verizon account and numerous other companies.  They don't care if they keep your business because they feel that they can replace you with someone new at anytime.  They don't realize how valuable their loyal customers are and they really don't seem to want to find out. 

It is always refreshing to find a company who is there for the customer and wants to work to keep your business.  The sad fact is that many times they are bought by a big company and then many times you lose that again.  We try to support independent businesses in our community and especially local restaurants.  Sometimes we pay a little more but we feel it is worth it. 

This week I did have an interesting experience when I went to Home Depot.  I asked the greeter where the shelving was and I was told where to look.  There was an employee there who didn't walk away when he saw me coming and he helped me and the shelves look great.  I was quite shocked and pleased and will try Home Depot again. 

Nathan and I have our supplies bought and have our business Kl33n up and running.  We were going to go to our first job today but there was a blizzard so we will go in on Monday and start.  We are looking forward to starting and our Kl33n (Kleen) name was thought up by Nathan.  The threes stand for environmentally friendly products, economical, and efficient. 

Action Hero:  Ben Brigham

Ben Brigham grew up in a dysfunctional home.  He was the oldest of six children and his parents divorced when he was young.  His father was an alcoholic and died when Brigham was 19 years old.  After that he immersed himself in studying and learning philosophy and looked up to role models.  He started learning from the ground up and eventually started Brigham Exploration one of the most active and successful oil and gas companies in the United States.  He said that it is important to surround yourself with the brightest, hardworking people that you can find.  It is also important to have people around you who have the same value system as you do.  Brigham worked hard to overcome the problems of his youth and move forward to start his own business and find values that would help him all of his life.  

Boy am I tired!

This week I made two videos of me.  I decided that I am not good at making videos and do not really want to look at myself.  It reminded me of when I was young and we would record our voices on a tape recorder and I always sounded so strange.  I could hardly tell it was me.  Now days everyone is taking pictures and videos and I am not sure I like it.  It is bad enough to know how I sound, now I have to see how I look.  I look tired.  Being an entrepreneur is hard work.  I have been checking prices on cleaning materials and have had a hard time finding companies that care about the environment and do a good job.  I will be off to Don Aslett's this week to see what he has to offer.  I also need to find a cheap vacuum.  Will have to work on that.  It is to bad that the D.I. doesn't take many things like that anymore. 

I have been catching up on The E Myth.  I hadn't seen it for a couple of weeks on the reading page and when I saw it this week I realized I was behind.  Sitting waiting for your husband to have a root canal is a good opportunity to catch up on reading.  I like reading this book and find the way it is written interesting and insightful.  I realize that at home and at work you need to visualize what you want and then proceed to make it happen.  If it was never visualized first you will not be able to make it work.  I know that I do that when I am making a decision in my home.  This week we moved more of my things out of the office and painted the room so that Nathan can move into the basement.  I visualized where the furniture would go and how to get his mountain of stuff into the room.  We did make some progress, now I need to visualize where my stuff will go.  I told my husband to rent me a warehouse.  I liked the story of Tom Watson Sr. who started IBM.  He talked about how he had a clear picture of what he wanted the company to look like and he worked each day to make the picture happen. 

I realize it is time to change the vision of the company that we own and find new ways to make money.  We talked about sitting down and thinking about all the services that we offer and then finding ways to show those services to our clients so that we can generate more business.  Maybe next week I will learn how to find more clients and love them.  We need to expand and pinpoint our target market and think of ways that we can find more clients.  I told my husband that maybe we could offer some survey services to a client we have.  That way he could do better and in return we would do better.  I agree that it is about the customer and we need to expand our services to better meet customer needs. 

It is getting late.  I am tired.  There is much information roaming around my brain and it needs to rest and ponder again tomorrow.  I would like to say that I am burning the midnight oil, but my kids friends are just barely going home and all the lights are still on.  Is it any wonder why I am tired.  Teenagers are for the young at heart and mind. 

Week 4

This week has been about budgeting and money, my weak links.  Since I am not a planner I have a hard time setting down and budgeting.  I don’t usually know a good price on products and I don’t keep track of who has the best price.  I have a hard time getting my bills paid and I don’t have a budget.  These are activities that I am working on since realizing how they are such a weakness of mine and that I need to find a way to do better at them. 

I have started a tablet that I keep in the kitchen to write down chores that need done around the house so that I can delegate more to others.  I have discussed a budget with my husband and there are two areas we need to work on, I like to go shopping, not really but he thinks I do and he likes to eat out.  I do know that this is true.  I think I should not shop for a week and see how things go.  No milk, bread, meat, eggs.  This does irritate me.  I am working on these a little at a time. 

I asked Nathan if he would like to go into business with me cleaning offices.  He doesn’t mow lawn in the winter and so this would be a good opportunity for him to earn some money.  We are each putting in ten dollars and this week we are going to start checking around for good green products that we can use and think of a name for our company. 

On the Big Idea I have been thinking that instead of planning dates we could become a clearing house for dating ideas.  We can talk to restaurants and other businesses and put them on a website so that people can go there to plan dates instead of having to access many sites.  I haven’t figured out the money yet but am thinking about it and talking to others about it. 

I like the idea of bootstrapping a business and not going into debt but working on it one step at a time when you have the resources.  This would work for either of my ideas.  For the Big Idea I could have Greg make a website for it and then show it to potential businesses and get them on the site.  I would need a startup date so that we could have a few people on there.  It would be great if you could see what was at the movie, when the Idaho Falls Symphony was playing and other activities for the weekend that you are wanting to plan. 

This week has got me thinking about budgets and money and I am working on being more of a planner.  I have several other ideas I am working on to help me become a better planner.  

Action Hero's for weeks three and four:

DESH DESHPANDE

Dr. Deshpande moved to the United States from India with only eight dollars in his pocket.  He believes that being an immigrant helped him because he knew what things were like in India and in the United States and he felt he could do something with his life here.  His first business did not succeed because he had a difference of opinion with his partner but he said he learned a lot from it.  Dr.Deshpande said that he is an optimist and that if things don’t go your way that it is not the end of the world.  He said,“Sit on it a while and you will see what you can do.” 

Desh Deshpande is a technology entrepreneur and visionary whose companies and ideas often reshape entire industries.  He has changed how data and voice traffic is delivered across the world.  

KEN ZOLOT

Ken Zolot grew up with a devilish curiosity and restless creativity.  He has turned that into a keen understanding of customer expectations that helped him create companies like Egenera and Heartland Robotics.  He has learned to blend technical skills with an understanding of human relationships and helps others to learn this by mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs at the Kauffman Foundation. 

Ken Zolot says the most important thing in business is the place and the people who need tended to.  He says that we hire human beings and we should find out how to help them and what inspires them.  When we look to start a business we should think about what keeps people up at night and how we can help with their daily struggles.  When we start a business are we thinking about people and what they need or are we thinking about this cool thing we invented and more about ourselves that who our customer is.  Zolot says we should remember to listen to feedback from the market and push ourselves to find the next great thing that we want to show people that they need, but make sure it is something they need not that you think is cool. 

Both of these men are visionaries who show optimism and a desire to find ways to help others.  

 

Paul Robshaw

Paul Robshaw has always been a hard worker.  His father needed help with his real estate business when Paul was just thirteen and told Paul that if he came and helped him show houses he could drive his dad’s car.  Paul did this. Paul learned all aspects of the real estate business from cleaning to selling and owns AIC Ventures which helps companies unlock the value of their real estate. Paul said that he realized that nothing was easy and that you had to work hard to achieve success. 
It was not always that way for Paul.  He was divorced and declared bankruptcy on the same day.  This was not easy for him and after that he started thinking about his life and decided that money and accomplishment were not as important as your core values.  He still had integrity, was honest and he had his friends and belief in God.  He wrote a book about these things and also has a life plan that he still refers to.
He says that we should dream.  “Dreams are reality without boundaries” he said.  Decide what you really want to do.   What do you dream about doing?  Don’t worry about the money, do what you want to do.  He said that this can be personally inspiring. 
Paul believes that our core values are important.  I liked the idea that we should dream big, work hard and that nothing is easy.

What type are you?

I am reading a book called The E Myth Revisited, Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, by Michael E. Gerber. So far I have found it very interesting and reviling. There is the Entrepreneur, the Manager and the Technician.  The entrepreneur personality turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity.  The manager personality is pragmatic.  Without the manger there would be no planning, no order, no predictability.  The technical personality is the doer.  The technician's loves to tinker and his credo is "If you want it done right, do it yourself".  I have thought about myself in regards to these three personality types and discovered that I am a Technician, then an Entrepreneur, and then a Manager.  I find myself doing everything around the house and other places and always thinking up new ways to do it.  According to the book, all three of these are important if you want to run a successful business and that we have each of these inside of us, we just need to stop and learn the one we are weak in.  I find this to be true in my life.  I need to stop and manage.  I am always moving and working and doing and never stopping to plan and be a manager.  I don't stop to plan how my money is working, how my home is working, I don't make a menu, I am a doer and I find excitement in trying new things.

I have decided it is time to stop this insanity and try being all three.  I need to stop and plan before I continue to think and do.  I plan a little but I need to do more.  I need to see the necessity to each of these personalities and use them all to my advantage.  We can find a way to do those things that we consider boring and not necessary and I think it is important that we try.

This week I have also been learning about how to create a business plan.  I am not a planner.  I dislike sitting and planning when I can be up and doing.  In the group discussion board there was student who had helped to write a 30 page business plan that had won an award.  I cannot imagine having to do that.  It seems to be such a large task.  I would need a lot of help and that were the team comes in I suppose.  There is so much thought that needs to go into a business plan and into preparing to open a business.  Each step is important.  I liked the idea I have read since starting this class that we should carry a notebook with us to jot down things we think of or remember or thoughts about what our business needs.  I think that is important.  I find that my minds gets so busy and full that often times it is hard to recall useful information.

Because of my business, I think that there is not time to start a business.  I am already running.  I am going to stop and plan and see how that works for me.