DaJobSucks

Unemployment, Time and Creativity

I read a book a while back, sorry I don't remember its name, that claimed that 95% of all business came out of desperation, people who had no choice but to rely on themselves for their own salary. They can't take comfort in a monthly salary, but their salary is based on how much work they put in and how creative they can be.

While I would not wish desperation on anyone, it is through the same desperation that you may accomplish more than you ever did with a full time job. The main reasons why desperation spurs industry is that:

1. YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT AND WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO DO SO. We will generally sacrifice much if we know that our actions will impact ourselves and our families directly. Knowledge of the fact that no work may mean no food can be very motivating. 
2. Most importantly, you tend to be more creative, as you have nothing but time to think and come up with ideas that you would not have time to do with a nine to five.

Creativity is a function of time and unbridled thought. No boundaries, no disturbances, no boss calling you to come up with a quick fix for problems. We have the time to expand our craniums, you know, that thing we have dedicated to lining our bosses pocket. We now have time to conjure schemes to line our own pockets.

Take the time today to be creative if you have nothing to do you may surprise yourself. Use what you have been given and don't wait for a job to come out of thin air.

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Brainstorming Deficiency

Brainstorming can be a very useful tool, however, if it is not used properly, it can be as useless as some of our elected officials who seem to make decisions without much thought and pain staking, brain throbbing deliberation.

The business world seems to have taken the approach mentioned above with Brainstorming. The key deficiency I have noticed and which is usually the 800 pound gorilla in the room, is ensuring that all is prepared for brain storming sessions, that is, all should know what is to be discussed so that they can have time to put their ideas together before the meeting.

Persons should be given at least a day to do their own deliberations so that all will come to the table with ideas that have gone through their own personal cerebral grinders. This would avoid knee jerk decision making which I swear has taken over our business universe. We have abused brain storming to the point where it sometimes runs contrary to its intended purpose, which is to resolve pressing issues quickly, through combining the ideas and thoughts of all the persons involved in the meeting.

I know, the idea of having a brainstorming session is to resolve issues quickly so time may not be available, however, if decisions are rushed then you may require more time in the future to fix issues caused because you wanted to make decisions quickly.

For your next brain storming meeting, give your staff more time to come up with ideas so that you can get higher quality resolutions that add value to your business processes and overall operations. Trust me, the wait is worth it.  

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Think Export

If you think that you have saturated your market or that there are too many new entrants into your industry, then it may be time to consider expanding your market to countries outside of the US. Too often we think within the box and ignore opportunities outside of the norm. However, it is imperative, especially during a recession, to identify new customers outside of your local surroundings.

Our recommendation is that you should try to determine the needs of your countries closest neighbors, identify products that you produce that matches these external needs, determine the feasibility of exporting your product to these countries taking into consideration export cost and possible revenue and whether your products are up to international standards.

You should also try to determine if there are any government or state programs that provides assistance to small business's like yours for exportation of your product, if there are any trading clubs or organizations that can help you to find trade partners and whether your product needs to be re-engineered or re-designed to suite your potential trade partners. 

State and federal laws should also be considered as well as the laws of the country of your potential trade partners. Consideration should also be given to how the exchange rate between your country and your potential trade partners country will impact your revenue and whether the stability of the countries economy and political system will encourage could trade relations.

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As small business owners, we sometimes discard raw materials that we don't need for the creation of our end products. However, with each ounce of raw material we throw away we have thrown money in the trash. We should seek to use all raw material.

Unused raw materials can be used to:

Make other products (Some farmers who produce orange juice tend to use oranges that are not suitable for display trays in the supermarket to make orange juice).;

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Two part timers or one full timer

When a business has just open its doors and there is a position to be filled which may be extremely demanding, then it is better they hire two part time workers, especially if the work will be too much for one person but not enough for two people.

Hiring two part timers gives you the ability to spread out work load more effectively to ensure that one person is not carrying too much of the work load that may make him/her inefficient.

It also reduces the risk of mistakes due to exhaustion and reduces the risk of staff resigning prematurley due to frustration.

Having two part timers in this scenario also makes it easier to ensure that someone is always assigned to the job, especially in the case that someone calls in sick.

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Benefits of documenting business procedures

If you have a business and you hire staff or have plans on hiring, then it is important that you document all the procedures you complete during each business day. This documentation gives your staff clear instruction of how to complete each task they are assigned to. Don't get me wrong, this documentation is not done for each individual staff but is a general document that all staff can use to guide the performance of their tasks.

In general, the following advantages can be derived from documenting your business procedures:

Continuity in business procedures if key staff are no longer employed to your place of business;

Better efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of daily tasks, as there are clear expectations based on the procedure document;

Activities will be better coordinated if everyone is fully aware of each procedure that is to be carried out, how they are to be performed and when they should be performed;

There is a decreased chance of error in the performance of daily activities; and

Staff tend to follow instrucions better if they come in writing, furthermore, it removes confusion from the assignment of job tasks as each staff will be guided by the documented procedures and not word of mouth.

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Surprise cash counts

If you run a small business like a convenience store, restaurant etc. you should consider doing a surprise cash count periodically.

This cash count is not the same as what you do at the end of each day to make sure that your cashiers have balanced their collections to your cash register tape, but it is a step to ensure that your cashier is not borrowing from the cash register and then replacing the founds at the end of the day.

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Providing the best products

The best way to guarantee customer satisfaction and maintain customer support for your products is to ensure that you provide the best possible quality of goods. The aim is to separate yourself from the pack, as most companies tend to provide goods in keeping with market standards and requirements rather than seeking to provide the best possible product and so we follow the market and the leaders in the market rather than seeking to become leaders ourselves.

We must seek to be leaders in our industry. There is no space for mediocracy. We most always be dissatisfied with the quality of our product and seek to do the necessary research to develope our products far and beyond what we can ever imagine or dream of. We most think outside the box and not be slaves of industry standards for quality as we must seek to surpass them and be innovative. That is how you hold your customers with a gimik free approach.

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Tarketed Marketing

I find that many of my colleagues in error, thinks that while trying to attract new clients or customers to their business, they need to throw a large net out in the sea in hopes that they will catch something. So they get a big list of numbers or emails and cold call or send emails in the hope of getting customers. This tends not to work as well as identifying a set of customers you would like to get and tailoring your marketing program around their needs.

The later approach is much more organized and will be more effective.

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Safety for a real estate agent

Here are some safety tips for real estate agents:

If you have an appointment with a client, always inform your co-workers, friends or family of where you will be going and when to expect you back in office or at home and let the client know that they know.

Always make the client walk in front of you when showing them a house.

Know all the possible exits from the house you are displaying just in case you have to make a run for it.

Try to deal with multiple clients at once, in other words try to ensure that you are meeting with more than one clients at a home. Open houses are usually the best way to ensure this.

Have a draft emergency message that can be sent to your office or family if you are having any safety issues.

If possible, have someone accompany you to meetings with clients.

Try to avoid showing homes at nights.

Avoid wearing expensive jewelery when showing a home.

Always travel on main roads and roads that has good lighting.

Take self defense classes.

Walk with pepper spray or a taser gun (if it is legal to do so).

Avoid going to criminal infested neighborhoods.

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Background checks for potential parnters

If you want to start a partnership, remember to do a background check of the potential partner.

The background check should include looking at police reports, credit reports, current financial statements, physical inspection of the prospective partners assets, professionally done valuation of your partners business assets and staffing and human resources reports.

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Two things to look for when seeking a business partner

If you feel that you need to partner with someone to get your business to the next level, then there are two main things you should look for, a relationship based on mutual benefit and  someone with lots of "business" goodwill.

Relationship based on mutual benefit

Not only should your business benefit from the partnership, but your prospective partner should get something from the new business relationship. When a company wants to employ someone, they ensure that the prospective employee requires a salary that is lower or similar to what the company wants to pay, because there will be possible discontent if the person is hired and they are not being paid the salary they want. The discontent may lead to poor work performance in the future and the employee leaving the company earlier than both parties expected. When seeking a partner ensure that their expectations of the partnership are in sync with yours as the partnership may not last as long as you intended and the intended benefits may not be realized.

Someone with lots of "business" goodwill

For our purposes, goodwill is the value of a prospective business partners business apart from the physical assets they own. It can be just their popularity with their customers and community and all other intangible value of the prospective partner. Studies have shown that some cusotmers are willing to pay more for products if the company has high levels of goodwill. The higher the goodwill of your partner, the higher your goodwill will be and there will be increased possibility for higher revenues.

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Balancing customer retention and addition

It is important to maintain the correct balance between keeping your current customers and adding new customers to your business. It is easy to get scared during a recession and seek to divert all your revenue to keeping the customers you have, however, during a recession, it is best to balance both initiatives because there will always be new customers due to the development of new industries and business's as people try to cope with the recession. With new industries comes new business, new revenue and the possibility for a new customer base.

So try to keep your old customers, however, ensure that you have a program to get new customers.

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Staying small has its advantages for a business

Small businesses sometimes benefits from more flexibility and a greater ability to move quickly to take advantage of business opportunities because there is less bureaucracy.

So while your business is small, take advantage of the speed at which you can broker deals because as you grow, this ability may not be available.

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