Why Small to Medium Sized Businesses Can Benefit From an Outside Perspective

Most business owners are really GREAT at their ‘business’ but find the ‘business of business’ tedious.

Using an outside business expert can:

1. Free the owner to do what they love, do what they do best, and work ON the company!

2. Bring a fresh view and perspective to a business. Fresh eyes can often see better than those focused on the trees rather than the forest.

3. Supply expert advice and assistance for far less than then cost of an employee OR the owners time. Better known as the ‘economy of knowledge’ because the client gets the benefit of using an advisor for a fraction of the cost of any employee.

4. Accomplish the correction of issues and the capture of opportunities quicker than using inside resources. Outside experts are: experienced, objective, accountable and results oriented.

5. Finally have someone other than themselves who has the owners and the businesses best interests at heart.

And now for something completely different...

Every entrepreneur can use a break now and again. Blame it on snow-madness, blame it on March madness., or blame it simply on a little Friday-itis. Here are some good laughs to send you off into the weekend:

Accountant and the Business OwnerThere once was a business owner who was interviewing people for a division manager position. He decided to select the individual that could answer the question "how much is 2+2?"

The engineer pulled out his slide rule and shuffled it back and forth, and finally announced "It lies between 3.98 and 4.02".

The mathematician said "In two hours I can demonstrate it equals 4 with the following short proof."

The attorney stated "In the case of Svenson vs. the State, 2+2 was declared to be 4."

The trader asked "Are you buying or selling?"

The accountant looked at the business owner, then got out of his chair, went to see if anyone was listening at the door and pulled the drapes. Then he returned to the business owner, leaned across the desk and said in a low voice "What would you like it to be?"


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A new business was opening and one of the owner's friends wanted to send flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card; it said “Rest in Peace”. The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said. “Sir, I”m really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry you should imagine this: somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying, “Congratulations on your new location!”

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Fresh out of business school, the young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself.”I need someone with an accounting degree,” the man said. “But mainly, I”m looking for someone to do my worrying for me.”"Excuse me?” the accountant said.”I worry about a lot of things,” the man said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.” “I see,” the accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?” “I’ll start you at eighty thousand.”"Eighty thousand dollars!” the accountant exclaimed. “How can such a small business afford a sum like that? “That,” the owner said, “is your first worry.”

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A customer sent an order to a distributor for a large amount of goods totaling a great deal of money.The distributor noticed that the previous bill hadn’t been paid. The collections manager left a voice-mail for them saying, “We can’t ship your new order until you pay for the last one. “The next day the collections manager received a collect phone call, “Please cancel the order. We can ‘t wait that long. ” 

hhhmmm, I think I had a client try that one once?!

Enjoy your weekend!

A LIGHTER LOOK AT ADVERTISNG

1. The first time people look at any given ad, they don't see it.
2. The second time, they don't notice.
3. The third time, they are aware that it is there.
4. The fourth time, they have a fleeting sense that they have seen it somewhere before.
5. The fifth time, they ACTUALLY read the ad.
6. The sixth time, they thumb their nose at it.
7. The seventh time, they start to get a little irritated with it.
8. The eighth time, they start to think, "Here's that confounded ad again."
9. The ninth time, they start to wonder if they might be MISSING OUT on something.
10. The tenth time, they ask their friends and neighbors if they've tried it.
11. The eleventh time, they wonder how the company is PAYING for these ads.
12. The twelfth time, they start to think that this MUST be a good product.
13. The thirteenth time, they start to feel the product has value.
14. The fourteenth time, they start to remember wanting a product exactly like this for a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, they start to yearn for it because they can't afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
17. The seventeenth time, they make a note to BUY the product.
18. The eighteenth time, they curse their poverty for not allowing them to buy this terrific product.
19, The nineteenth time, they count their money carefully.
20. The twentieth time the prospect sees the ad, they buy what it is offering.

The customer is always right?

You've heard it said, "The customer is always right."

Well, that is not necessarily true.

Customers are the lifeline of your business. Without them, your business will simply dry up and die. Without them you don’t have a business. It's important for you to take good care of them.

But know that…. if you own a business, just as sure as the sun will rise, there will be problems. Not necessarily many, but some. And… they will not always be your fault or be in your control!

The first time most business owners receive a complaint, they are devastated and take it personally. It is important not to do that.

If you work with people, there are going to be problems. Be professional in dealing with them, do everything you can (even if the problem was out of your control) to correct the problem.

Once you have done everything you can to take care of any problem, then consider it closed and let it go!