Before You Buy a Franchise, Please Read This June 2, 2020 Maybe you’ve been laid off. Maybe you’re one of the seeming few able to retire from the corporate world gracefully, but you don’t want to completely hang it up. Whatever the reason, if you’re considering buying a franchise, pay close attention. I beg you: DO NOT buy into any franchise system which allows the franchisor to exert control over the pricing of your product or service. This includes not…
When You Don’t Know What to Do May 29, 2020 When you’re a business owner, what do you do in a crisis when you don’t know what to do? That’s a problem a lot of business owners have right now. Some are stuck like the proverbial deer in the headlights, with sales at a fraction of what it was only a few months earlier. Thoughts like “how should I change my business?” or maybe even “should I shut down?” are…
Should I Impose a Covid-19 Surcharge? May 21, 2020 I recently fielded this question in the Q&A of a presentation, and it’s timely. Some businesses have either initiated or are considering “Covid-19 surcharges” which help pay for the added costs arising from supply chain issues and the cost of implementing pandemic-related processes and procedures. Problems with surcharges arise when customers view them as a way to simply make more money, particularly when the rationale feels a little dishonest. (Airline junk…
Hourly Billing Gone Wrong May 19, 2020 From a book I strongly recommend: The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek: “I used to work for a large advertising agency. After my first year at the company, leadership decided to implement time sheets. Unlike a law firm, where a lawyer may be billing their clients for the actual number of hours of work, this was a way for the company to keep track of . . . actually, no one really had any idea of…
Essential Business? May 13, 2020 Are you an essential business? No, I don’t mean the pandemic definition of “essential,” like a grocery store or hospital. In this case, services providers, what I mean by “essential” is whether you are so integral to your client’s business that they intuitively rely on you. The word “essential” is a root word of “essence.” If you check your dictionary, “essence” is derived from the Latin word “essentia.” “Esse” in Latin is “be.” Just like…
Small and Steady May 5, 2020 My first wife died at age 39 after battling pancreatic cancer. In the grieving over her death, I lived in a zombie-like existence in which all I did was exist. I went through the motions of life in a haze. I gained weight, and endured sessions with a grief counselor who seemed even sadder and out of sorts than I was. At a certain point, I knew I had to make changes. I made…
Assumptions April 17, 2020 We’ve been shaking our heads at all those irrational folks who hoarded all the toilet paper over the last few weeks. (Couldn’t have been any of us, of course!) Unlike hand sanitizer or N95 masks, this pandemic did not create a burning need to maintain a ready stockpile of toilet paper. So what’s with all the hoarding? As it turns out, while there may have been some folks who panicked and overbought, there are some very…
Essentials March 23, 2020 Several days ago I had to pack up my podcast studio and relocate. With fast-food and coffee establishments going to drive-through only, it was only a matter of time before banks followed suit. I had to pull out of our studio inside Renasant Bank and relocate. Not knowing exactly when that closure might occur, I had to decide quickly on what was important enough to take and what could stay. Important decisions had to be made…
Calm March 12, 2020 It’s a time of incredible stress for many people. The fear of the unknown is powerful. It’s real. A virus spreads with no signs of slowing down. Financial markets have turned on a dime and seem to have no bottom right now. A professional sports league suspends the season. Conferences and trade shows are cancelled. Companies are telling employees to work from home. College and churches are suspending activities. The news is fast and unpredictable. And…
Pricing and Urgency March 3, 2020 I saw this truck over the weekend, and it got me thinking about pricing and urgency. This guy has decided that there is no compelling need to fix his transmission. His urgency factor is not just zero; it seems to be less than zero. He’d rather drive over to the hardware story—in second gear—and purchase stick-on letters to alert drivers who come up behind him. He’s clearly not ready or willing to pay for…
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