10.2% Unemployment: Is Self-Employment a Viable Option?
By Sanford | November 10, 2009
The unemployment rate was pegged at 10.2% last Friday. The prospects that this will be a slow and, perhaps, jobless recovery does not bode well for the unemployed. Even though people are unemployed, but that does not mean they don’t have marketable skills and abilities. Maybe the solution is to market their skills independently. American Public Radio’s Marketplace aired a commentary dealing with that topic last Friday http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/11/06/pm-work-hard/#postComment.
I come from a family with several entrepreneurs and free-lancers. It is no surprise that after I left corporate America that I became an independent consultant. I fully endorse the concept that everyone needs to regard themselves as a free agent whether they are employees or self-employed. The big gotcha is that self-employment takes a special kind of person who wants to take on the responsibilities and challenges of running a business. There is risk with either choice. If you are unemployed, you might as well explore the self-employed option. There’s nothing to lose.
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Ford Motor Company Posts a Profit
By Sanford | November 2, 2009
Ford Motor Company Announced today that it posted a profit. Even its domestic car division was profitable. Among the reasons cited was the Cash for Clunks Program. People still want and need roomy cars. They don’t need $100 fill-ups.
Ford able to produce and get to market hybrid crossover vehicles such as the Escape in time to capitalize of both high gas prices and the Cash for Clunker Program. GM is still working on the Volt and contenting itself with flex-fuel cars. How did Ford pull this off?
Bill Ford pushed for environmentally friendly cars for which he received stiff opposition due to costs and the public’s desire for big SUVs. The program was shelved, and it hurt Bill Ford’s career within Ford. I wonder if the work that Ford Motor Company made during that eco-friendly era enable Ford better enable to bring these hybrids to market quickly. I also wonder if Bill Ford might not be a bit of visionary like his great-grandfather, Henry Ford. Henry Ford, for all his faults, brought us the assembly line, which made cars available to the masses, and increased pay to reduce absenteeism. Those were unheard of and revolutionary for the time. Only Henry didn’t have to worry about reporting quarterly earnings or working with senior execs and board members who just wanted to play it safely, make the numbers, and follow the pack. Henry was a leader. So was Bill, only Ford Motor Company went public in 1956. Bill deserves credit for his vision and vindication for his convictions.
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London Bridge is Falling Down
By Sanford | October 30, 2009
That’s the first line of a children’s song. Yet, it applies to America’s infrastructure–roads, bridges, schools, etc.–and to its businesses. Drive on state and interstate highways, and you will find them in bad need of repair. Bridges have had sections fall or have been closed because they were unsafe to use. And the Bay Bridge is closed again because the work on the emergency repair during the Labor Day weekend failed less than 60 days after the bridge reopened. Maintenance is costly, terribly unsexy to do, and disruptive to the normal workflow.
So it is with business too. Businesses are often born out of good visions based on the best know-how at the time. Time marches on. Businesses need to review how they do business, both their internal processes and procedures, and how they impact their customer base. What are the customers’ continued experience of the business. Is there a gap between the customer’s experience and your intended experience for them? All too often in good times, businesses set a course and go. In bad times, they blame the economy, government, regulations, anyone or anything outside. True there may be external factors that affect a business. However, business owners spend too much time looking outward and too little looking inward. It is time to do regular maintenance on your businesses. This means reviewing what you are doing, assessing what, if anything, has changed, make modifications, ask customers what they experience. Knowledge is power; denial can mean disaster. Buggy whip manufacturers failed to see they were part of a transportation industry that was changing. The world waits for no business or industry. Get on board, and make the ride a successful journey.
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Why Do Businesses Really Fear Health Care Reform?
By Sanford | October 27, 2009
Why do businesses really fear health care reform? Among the reasons are its cost, government control, regulation and deficit, and satisfaction with the status quo. Those may be valid reasons, but they cover up a key underlying reason, which is it represents change. I find this ironic. All businesses came into being to fill a need or solve a problem, or said another way create a change in the status quo. Entrepreneurs are change agents. Yet when businesses have always faced with change such as safety regulations, ADA compliance, the family leave act, they have fought it fearing losses in profits, productivity, and more regulation. The ceiling didn’t fall after their enactment. In fact, there might not have been a need for the legislation if businesses recognized those needs as part of their self-interest. In today’s wired in world, the marketplace is changing at an exponentially more rapid pace. Businesses must change, adapt, and even lead if they are going to stay competitive. Health care as we have it today is broken and a major reason why our products aren’t as competitive as their foreign counterparts. Is business experiencing the Pavlovian fear response to change? Change is inevitable. Early 20th century thinking and solutions will not be useful in the 21st century. It is time to change and lead.
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Leaders Are An Endangered Species
By Sanford | October 6, 2008
I read a really great blog the other day asking where have all the leaders gone. Noted author Warren Bennis poses similar questions in his many books. Unfortnately, The Endangered Species Act may cover the Darter Snail, but does not cover leadership, courage, and the moral judgment to know how to conduct business. The blog can be found at http://clickhereformorecustomers.com/, click on ‘blog’ on the navigation bar.
We have witnessed in our life time the complete failure of leadership greed be it ratings in political polls or sheer avarice. The result has been the worst case of “Apres moi le deluge” since Louis XIV, and we all know how that inevitably ended. It is a cliche that “those who cannot remember the sins of the past are condemned to repeat them.” So it has become with laissez-faire in business. It does not work! Trust and reciprocity has broken down and the credit markets siezed up. Moral fiber means caring more about same-sex marriages than about predetory lending.
There is no safety net for small businesses when compared to the big boys. While big corporations get all sorts of protection such as legal protection against stock holder suits, small businesses and particularly personal bankruptcies are harder to recover from. Now is the time to exercise leadership in your business. If not you, no one will do it for you.
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Where Did This Financial Crisis Come From?
By Sanford | October 3, 2008
Greed and deregulation played a big part in the financial debacle we have been witnessing over the last year or so. But, don’t think this debacle began with the subprime mortgage crisis. You could see the it coming with previous financial scandals of Enron, Worldcom, and the Dotcom implosion. There was all this talk of the ‘new economy.’ You didn’t have to be profitable; it was market share that was important. Buy a house with little down and low interest rate, you get a the mortage interest tax deduction. Before the interest rates goes up you will have sold your house at a profit due to all the appreciation. Everything is fine until the music stops. Then all falls down. It did in 1929. This has been a dangerous game of musical chairs that keeps getting played out in the American economy.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. While businesses need to run on credit to help with cashflow, meet payroll, they still need to be run with a sense of fiscal responsibility. What is frightening is that many small businesses do not have a business plan, business owners don’t really understand basic budgeting, cashflow, and don’t focus enough on the mechanics of running their businesses. It is more important that businesses of 100 employees and under pay more attention to business management in both bad and good times. The Wall Street mogels didn’t understand the derivatives that they were investing in. Are you doing a similar thing in your business?
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Recession, Corporate Downsizing: Is Going into Business Right for You?
By Sanford | August 15, 2008
As the economy slows down and corporate downsizings increase, people begin to consider going into business. It can appear to be one means to gain more control over your life. It can be very seductive: the money you make is yours; no more bosses, working at home, the list of benefits goes on. Small businesses have a very high mortality rate, especially in their first five years. Yet, for some people who have been laid off, there may not be another good alternative. Their bills have to be paid. Is going into business for you?
Perhaps the question is not whether going into business is right for you, but how can you be a success in business. It is possible for a new business to succeed, but it means being willing to do the work. Most businesses fail because they lack sufficient money in reserve to carry them until they can become profitable. In reality, the lack of funds is just one aspect of lack of sufficient planning. You need to know what your monthly expenses are; how much money it will take to start up your business; and how long you can last before the business needs to make money. Using that information, you can develop a business plan. Starting with insufficient funds hamstrings the owner’s ability to maneuver off the mark. That’s like not providing sufficient nutrition and care to a new born.
Is going into business right for you? If the answer is yes, then your business can beat the odds and succeed. However, it means doing the work.
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This is my first post
By Sanford | July 3, 2008
Hello world!!
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