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Archive for June, 2009
Family Bonding
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
A little over 2 weeks ago, my uncle died. He was my mom’s brother. It has been really hard on our family, especially my mom. But, what hit me the hardest was the realization that the older I get, the more this is going to happen. As a child, deaths and funerals were rare for me and I never got used to the pain and sorrow that comes along with losing loved ones. I suppose that’s a really good thing though – having to lose people when you are young can be much worse. It was a sad day at the memorial, but also a joyful one for many reasons. We got to celebrate the life of my uncle and we were reunited with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc…
I’m realizing that there are a few things that bring full families together – Weddings, Births and Funerals. All three are celebrations of life and occasions to come together with old stories, great memories and rekindled relationships. It is sad that it takes these major acts to keep many families in touch. People seem to be so busy these days that they forget the really important things in life. The really important things in life start with family. It is in the family that our roots take hold and from there we grow to be the person we are meant to become.
I’m very lucky to have the family that I do. We are close, we travel together, live in the same area, spend weekends and holidays together and I now run my father’s original business (A Houston Courier Company, Hot Shot Delivery). As an immediate family, we understand the importance of “family time” and we have a strong family bond. But rarely do we spend time with the extended family. I’d like to see that change.
I was watching television the other night and a line from one of the shows really hit home for me:
“Make a plan, set a goal, work towards it. But every now and then, look around, drink it in. Because, this is it. It might all be gone tomorrow.”
If everything were gone tomorrow, did you spend today doing the things that mean the most? It’s definitely something worth thinking about and possibly changing the way you do some things. I did a little exercise that I thought was pretty helpful. I took a piece of paper and drew a line in the middle of it to make two columns. In the left column, I made a list of the most important things in my life. In the right column, I made a list of the things I spend the most of my time doing. It was very interesting to see how the most important things in my life often took a backseat to the items in the right column.
As I close for the week, I’d like to dedicate this blog to my uncle and his life. I’d also like to send a message to my extended family, I hope that we can set a goal of spending more time together and work towards that goal. Because if it were all gone tomorrow, I would definitely miss those good times.
Should you do the same with your family?
Until Next Time,
Eric
Social Media and Your Business
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Those of you who follow my blog may already realize that I’m relatively new to the world of Social Media. I’ve only been at it for about 6 months, but in that time I’ve learned some valuable lessons that I thought I would pass along.
Before I give you my few tips, I’ll let you in on why a company should be interested in the social media world. The plain and simple facts are that there are thousands of your clients, friends, family and community that are interacting online. They do business online, they maintain relationships online and they get educated online through news articles, websites and blogs. Why not get involved as a representative of your company? It’s easy but it does take a little time. However, this type of grass-roots marketing is worth it when you look at the cost – FREE. Talk about increasing margins… when cost of sales is nothing, sign me up for more of that!
So, here are my three tips:
1) Start a BLOG – Of course I’m going to recommend that you do a blog, considering you are reading mine right now. There are a few different types of blogs. A few examples are: 1) The Personal Blog – this is the most common type of blog and it provides commentary and insight on topics that are of interest to the author. The posts are a bit longer and explore a variety of themes. 2) The Online Journal Blog – This is a shorter, daily version of a blog. It’s less about exploring topics and more about a breakdown of daily occurrences. 3) Video Log – Another version of a blog is when the topics being explored are all recorded on video and provided in that medium to the audience. This is often called a VLOG.
The reasons a company owner should do a blog are countless. For instance, a blog lets you put a name and a face to the company you represent. You give your customers some insight in to who you are, the things that are important to you and the life you lead outside of the business. It also lets you explain certain parts of your business or your industry to those that are interested. Another valuable part of the blog is it’s effectiveness within the search engines. Blogs will help your company’s natural rankings go higher so that new customers can find you when searching for keywords related to your business.
A word of caution when writing a blog – try to keep it varied in topic and interesting. For instance, I have a Houston Courier Service, but if I wrote about how great my courier service was every single time I wrote a post, my blog readers would lose interest very quickly. Think about how you run your business and what insight you have learned that could help other business owners. Use your blog as a way to help others, not just to pontificate about how great your business is.
2) Get a Twitter Account - When I first heard about Twitter, I did not think it would catch on at all. Who would want to do updates throughout the day about random things? Turns out, it’s really easy to get in to. With all of the additional platforms that make it extremely easy to manage (TwitterBerry, TweetDeck, etc…), “Tweeting” is actually a fun way to reach customers or potential customers in your area. Many of the Fortune 100 companies have a Twitter account where customers like you and me can see what goes on in an average day at their company.
Will you get customers from Twitter? Well, it depends. Having followers and following people in your area gives you a chance to become aware of events and things that you may not have known about. Attending these events can provide a way to get face-to-face time with potential customers who may need your product or service. If you use the Twitter account as a way to get your foot in the door, then sure, you can definitely get new business from your FREE Twitter account.
A word of caution about Twitter – Do not push your company in every single Twitter post. Like a blog, your followers will get bored with your Tweets and “unfollow” you. Make your Tweets interesting, include links, pictures, funny thoughts, etc… Throw in a word about your business, but not in an overwhelming way. Keep the balance. Oh – and one more thing – many followers can see right through a “fake account” – so, keep it real.
3) Get a Facebook Account – Millions and Millions of people are on Facebook. Your employees, your friends, your grandmother, etc… This social media website has an extremely broad demographic that spans all ages, all genders, all cultures, etc… Why not create a page for you and for your company? Create a Group so people can follow your company and the events that are occurring. And the great thing is that you can link your Blog, Twitter and Facebook together so that all three update when one is changed. Post a blog and your Twitter and Facebook accounts can automatically inform your followers of the new blog with a link to it. Post a Twitter Update and not only do your Twitter followers get it, but so do all of your Facebook followers. It’s easy to set up and amazing to see the impact it can have on your business.
Those are my three tips for Social Media and your business. There are plenty more ideas that you can incorporate – Digg, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, etc… If you are interested in more information, please feel free to comment and I can send more over. Just remember, I am still new at this myself and trying to figure out what works and what is a waste of time. But, I’m more than willing to help you and your business move in to the Social Media world.
Till Next Time,
Eric
Back To The Basics
Friday, June 5th, 2009
Often I find myself talking about business with people all over the city. Whether it’s at my favorite restaurant, my dry cleaner, with my family or at sporting events. I can ramble on about the current state of the economy, my Houston Courier Service or problems owners are facing in industries across the board. I’m realizing a common theme these days in the discussions. The theme is a problem with Cash Flow. We all seem to suffer from cash flow problems at one time or another in the life of our business, but these days – it is a much more common problem than it was just a few years ago.
Recently, I started to take a look at my own company to determine what, if anything, needs to be changed or fixed to lower our internal concerns of cash flow. I figured there were some basic areas that I needed to look in to and those were: Receivables, Bad Debt Issues, Too Much Overhead and the biggest – Low Profit Margins.
Today, I’m going to chat about Low Profit Margins. I see this so often in my industry. Perhaps it is because we are service-based vs. product-based or perhaps its because we are all competing for the same business. Either way, by taking a good look at my customers, I was able to see that not only was I not profitable on some customers, but I was actually LOSING MONEY! When you consider the costs associated with deliveries which includes the delivery drivers, the taxes (don’t get me started on the taxes), the gas prices, the customer service group, the technology costs for order placement-tracking and reporting, the costs associated with the building, etc… – things start to add up.
Now, I’m not suggesting that in this tough economy we go in and start raising prices across the board, but I am saying that we need to all be aware of the necessary margins associated with our particular type of business and keep that in mind when bringing in new customers. Often, companies don’t include all areas of cost when bidding on new work. Bringing in new business that generates cash, but is not profitable in the long-run, is a sure-fire way to go out of business.
You may find that you have multiple divisions within your business. Some may be more profitable than others – put your focus there. And bring in customers that understand the value of the service that you are providing. Customers that won’t haggle with you over a few pennies difference. Instead of price haggling, explain why your service is better than the others and don’t budge on your pricing. Your goal is to continue to price your business in a way that keeps you in business. Good customers respect that and understand your need to make a profit.
I know that running a business is more than a full-time job. So, when you are swamped with decisions to make, operations to run, employees to manage, books to keep and new customers to get – remember this – get back to the basics. Ensure your receivables are not out of control, you are not running with too much bad debt, you don’t bite off more than you can chew with your overhead and that you price your work in a way that is profitable. Because at the end of the day, Cash Flow is KING.
Until Next Time,
Eric
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