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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 planning
What Price Sochi?
In business, there is a danger that a big new project, landing a giant customer, or an unexpected personal event will draw your attention away from the job of running your business. When an owner is the driving force behind day to … Continue reading
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Four Generations’ Embrace of Technology
Technology is pervasive in the workplace. That isn’t a news flash; it’s just reality. When we have an IT or Internet malfunction, my employees are probably less than 20% as effective without their computers. They will catch up on some … Continue reading
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Should a Small Business Have a Budget?
“I know that my company is doing OK,” the old joke goes. “I still have checks in my checkbook.” Many small businesses run on a version of checkbook accounting, where anything that isn’t paid out at the end of the … Continue reading
4 Responses to Should a Small Business Have a Budget?
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Lots of Jobs – Where are the Workers?
The South Texas region has an unemployment rate of somewhere between 5.2% and 5.8%, depending on exactly where you are located. Employment in certain highly desirable professional technology occupations is officially over 100%. Finding entry-level employees in South Texas is … Continue reading
8 Responses to Lots of Jobs – Where are the Workers?
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John,
Interesting article, same sort of thing is happening in the UK. Check this book out as it sheds some light on the issue: The case for working with your hands by Mathew Crawford. -
This has been happening in Australia for a while John. We have the whole new situation of rising unemployment combined with increasing skills shortages. The new catch cry is that we are ‘warehousing’ our youth in educational facilities that don’t produce workforce-ready employees. To make it worse, out minimum wages here are US $16.37 an hour. Plug that into the payroll of a USA small business and see what happens!!!
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Unfortunately, businesses will have to look outside their country and possibly bring in entry level employees. As a small business, you have to find the way to get the work done and this can be accomplished with H-2B Visas, a Visa that was scarce in 2007 when the U.S. had a boom. Large companies have always relied on these Visas, now small businesses are also taking advantage of them. We hate to have to hire outside our country, but, when a business cant find the workers in the U.S., they have no choice.
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The Colleges and Universities have an extreme disconnect with the business world. We are looking for programmers and the schools are investing 4 years in these students and they still don’t have the skills. It still takes us 6-12 months of training before they are ready to work on their own. I could probably take an average Joe with no experience and invest a little over 12 months and be in the same position. It is a shame.
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You can add this one to your anecdotes, we have been trying to get “decent” workers to offset H2B visa workers. We scaled down to decent as we love to have experienced workers, due to the lack of applicants able to pass a drug screening test or background test. Of all efforts of posting available positions in the “decent” category, we were able to interview 10, hire 6, of which 3 showed for first day of work.
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For those of us with children in college, this is a fairly depressing realization. I am not surprised by it. I think that the writing is on the wall. Even Harvard is now offering deals to incoming students because it is getting harder and harder to determine if the price of higher education is really going to pay off in the end. For now, I am hopeful that engineering majors will remain in high demand… somewhere beyond MacDonalds.
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Lastly, I read John Dini’s recent post about the challenges SMBs in Texas are having filling jobs in areas like construction and manufacturing. His assumption is it’s because there are too many people with degrees in Psychology and an insufficient number of technically trained people to fill these positions. No where in his, or your, posts do you consider what all emerging middle class societies experience- young people don’t want to perform menial jobs. Our youth are growing up with technologies and conveniences our parents thought was the stuff of science fiction.
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What is Your Company Worth?
A business owner hires a financial planner to help him with his retirement options. They review the owner’s current assets, his house, stock portfolio and other investments. They go over his insurance coverage. Then the planner asks, “What about your company? How … Continue reading
I found in my consulting practice that the small businesses that have the discipline to create a budget also have the discipline to manage their business well. It is a way to the business perspective to pro-active instead of reactive.
Extremely important if a business offers healthcare to employees. “Life changing events” include a spouse who loses coverage and now enrolls in your family plan.
I agree, every small business must have a specific budget for their marketing campaigns. A successful business always start from planning to budgeting, to planning and implementation.
In every business there should always be a budget.