In the weeks since the earthquakes in Haiti, we’ve seen a tremendous outpour of money and support for the recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people every day. The response and outpour of money and time got me thinking though, what are we doing daily in our local communities to support our local charities? Here at my Houston courier service, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc., we have the privilege of providing delivery service for several local charities and nonprofit organizations. We’ve developed several discounted services and special programs to help assist these charities and organizations in keeping costs low, as well as, providing a means for them reach their donors and beneficiaries expeditiously. Some of the greatest gifts we receive at Hot Shot Delivery, Inc. are the smiles that light up the children’s faces that benefit from the actions of our work for these charities.
I encourage all of you to get involved with local charities. You can always give money, but even better, you can contribute your time and services. Your neighborhood needs you and the rewards are life changing. I would like to share a quick story with you as well as a few charities that could use your help. Several months ago we received a call from a gentleman looking for a Houston courier service to pick up a pallet of bottled water and deliver it to Minute Maid Park. Having over heard this conversation in the call center, I asked to take the call. I discovered that this gentleman was with the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), and their organization was providing water to the members of the 72nd Infantry Brigade and their families during a deployment ceremony parade. Having attended Texas A&M University, I have the privilege of knowing many current and former members of our military. When the husband of a dear friend of mine was deployed to Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, I purchased a camouflage bracelet that simply says, “Support our Troops”. I have never taken this bracelet off. Our men and women and the families of these courageous folks need our support, so when it came time, I was honored to provide a free delivery for these brave souls. The unbelievable part about this story was that just last week, I was invited to the VFW Hall and they presented me with an Award of Appreciation! Can you imagine? All that these men and women, their friends and families, are sacrificing so much, and they give me an award? I don’t tell this story for my benefit, but rather for the benefit of our military. The smallest actions, and believe me, to me, my action was very small, mean the world to these military families. The same is true for all the actions and involvement with your local charities. These terrific groups strive and are able to give back to our communities because of the actions and involvement of people like you and me. I challenge each of you to get involved with a local charity and you will be amazed at how much more fulfillment you will get out of it than you put it. The outcome is terrific!
A few groups I would like to highlight, are Comp-U-Dopt
We have had a mighty cold snap all across the country in recent weeks. Here in Houston where I run, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc, a Houston Courier Service, we are finally going to reach the 60 degree mark for the first time in a week. Now before all my friends up north start in on me about this, I must say, Houston, Texas has not seen sustained overnight temperatures below freezing like this in over ten years. Heck, I’m usually in flip flops at New Years!
So, what does this have to do with 24/7 365? The media has story after story with the local plumber reminding people to wrap their pipes and stay prepared. They have been getting calls at all hours of the night for broken pipes and busted sprinkler heads. Running jobs at all hours of the night is nothing new to most of us in the courier business, but it is important to stop and reflect on the importance of being prepared and having a proper strategy for any and all weather related events. Especially when driving at night in subfreezing weather. The roads are slick and deliveries still have to be made urgently, but, with extra caution.
Do you have a winter strategy in place? Have you spent time ensuring that those who work for you and represent you know what precautions they need to take when transporting freight or even themselves to and from the office?
Here are a few tips for winter driving conditions:
Use slower acceleration and slower speeds.
Avoid heavy steering and braking.
Allow extra time to reach your destination during inclement weather. It is not worth putting your own life or the lives of others in danger to save time.
Drive with your headlights on.
Don’t get overconfident with four-wheel drive. It won’t help you stop any faster.
Winter road conditions often result in longer stopping distances. Give yourself room. If you have anti-lock brakes, press the pedal down firmly and hold it. If you don’t have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the pedal.
Slow down when approaching intersections, off-ramps, bridges or shady spots. These all have potential to develop black ice.
Avoid abrupt actions while steering, braking or accelerating to lessen your chance of losing control.
Look farther ahead in traffic. Actions by other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra reaction time.
Trucks take longer to stop. Don’t cut in front of them.
Avoid using cruise control or overdrive. Don’t let your car make a bad decision for you.
Happy New Year! Like many business owners, I am glad to have 2009 behind me. My focus right now is on setting my intentions for 2k10 and then following through on those intentions. I think resolutions are weak and often fizzle away after a brief time. Goals, once attained, leave little left over to continue to strive towards. Intentions however, are paths to fulfill our desires. For example, one of my intentions this year is to continue to reduce operating costs by introducing new technology while tweaking and improving upon what we are currently using. Then, we can sit back and allow the technology to handle the heavy lifting for us.
We have an incredible software system that has a feature that can automatically populate our order entry screens using our phone systems caller ID. However, in order for us to make this work, we have to make a change to our phone system. I have put this change off for way too long, mainly due to convincing myself that the pain of reassigning IP addresses etc far outweighed the benefit we would gain. Not to mention the fear that someone may mess up and we lose our phones for a period of time. However, while crafting my intentions for technological improvement and reducing operating costs, I soon realized that not only will this new phone system help increase our customer service (another intention), we will also be saving over $500 per month on our company phone bill and be getting better, more robust service.
The day to day reality of running a same day delivery business, like my Houston courier service, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc., or any business for that matter, is full of distractions and pressing issues. With the right intentions in place and the discipline to follow through, life and business will be easier. So, say goodbye to 2009 and the unresolved, unachieved, goals and resolutions of the past. Welcome 2010! I intend on this year being a banner year and I look forward to sharing it with each and every one of you. So don’t forget, Shop Hot Shot!
For more information on intentions, please visit my dear friend Brian Parsley at www.brianparsley.com or give me a call and we can share ideas.
