Category: New Business Development

Avian Flu And Building Businesses

Many of my science contacts
are EXTREMELY worried
about avian flu
jumping to human hosts.

If this happens
and it isn’t quickly detected
(it has already happened
at least once)
and transmission happens
between humans,
the outbreak is likely to be
100 times worse than COVID.

One expert contact
is privately predicting
a BILLION dead.

Yes, BILLION
with a ‘B.’

What does this mean
for business builders?

It means
having a purely virtual option.

It means
looking into a variety
of delivery methods
for products and services.

It means
investing in masks
and hand sanitizer
and great ventilation
NOW.

It means stocking up
on
essential supplies
and
assuming there will be
future supply chain disruptions.

It means preparing,
taking this possible threat
seriously.

Assume there will be
another pandemic.

Build your business
to survive that happening.

Fixating On A Non-Existent Problem

Netflix Canada
is cracking down
on password sharing
(they backed down
on this idiotic move
in the US).

The people using
the account
have to all reside
at the same address.

Which sounds
reasonable
except…

Netflix Canada subscribers
already pay higher rates
for more devices.

They pay per device.

Why the f*ck
does Netflix care
if those devices
are used in different households?

Their leaders are fixating
on a problem
they’ve already solved.

And they are severely damaging,
if not killing,
their company
because of this fixation.

Ask yourself
if the problem
you’re intent on solving
is truly a problem.

Focus on the TRUE problems
your business
is facing.

Something To Lose

A loved one works
for one of the huge
tech companies
currently doing massive lay offs.

He, and others,
have been told
they will no longer
have a job
in one month’s time.

That month, the company states,
is their working notice.
They won’t be receiving
any severance.

It is also the company’s policy
NOT to give references.

What, other than ethics,
is stopping these employees,
the walking dead,
from doing a sh*t job
or,
worse,
from sabotaging
the company
for the next month?

They truly have nothing
left to lose.

Once you tell employees
you’ll do nothing more
for them,
you lose all leverage
over them.

That is a REALLY dangerous
and extremely idiotic move.

Severance is given
for the company’s benefit also.

Suck it up and pay severance
or risk losing customers
and perhaps worse.

Share Resources With Other Small Businesses

In my neighborhood,
there is one neighbor
we go to
if we need a
not-commonly-required tool.

He usually has it
in his massive garage.

He hasn’t purchased
all those tools
himself.
We all contributed
some tools to his collection.

He merely stores them
and lends them
to other neighbors.

Because it makes no d@mn sense
for us all to buy tools
we might use once a decade.

There are small businesses
situated
all around yours.

One of them
likely has that book binding machine
or 3D printer
or other rarely used machine/tool
you need.

Ask before you buy that machine/tool.

The worst case is…
you get to know
your neighborhood businesses
a little bit better.

That might help you
in an emergency.

And they might just have
the machine/tool you need.

Understanding The Mission

The city I live in
has set up
a service
to pick up
hazardous waste.

They don’t want
paints, car oil,
face moisturizer
and other harmless substances
poured down the drain
or put in the landfills.

The issue is…
the employees picking up
the hazardous waste
don’t understand that mission.

They reject any waste
they aren’t 100% certain
is hazardous.

They picked up the moisturizer,
for example,
but they left the sunscreen on the curb.

They picked up the vegetable cooking oil,
as another example,
but not the fish-based cooking oil.

Instead of treating EVERYTHING
left for pick up
as harmful substances,
they only picked up
the substances they KNEW
were harmful.

I suspect many residents
will throw away
anything they left behind,
sending those items
to landfills
or worse places.

And they are less likely
to call for a pickup
next time.

Ensure everyone
in your organization
understands
the mission.

If they don’t understand the mission,
they could be working against it.

Time Sensitive Tasks First

A close contact had COVID.

I knew I would soon catch it
(for the second time – sigh)
so I organized my list of
must-complete tasks
by due date
and completed them
as quickly as possible.

I was fortunate
because I knew about
the close contact catching COVID.

But we should be now
organizing our tasks
this way ALL the time.

Because this is
the f*cked up world
we’re currently living in.

Any of us
could catch COVID
tomorrow
and be horribly ill
for two weeks,
four weeks.
forever.

Organize your essential tasks
by due date
and then
get ‘er done!

Is The Expiry Date Still Applicable?

A company was giving away
hundreds of at home COVID PCR tests
for free
because they were past
the expiry date.

A loved one knew
many of the expiry dates
had been extended.
He ensured these had been extended
and picked up the COVID test kits.

Expiry dates can be
VERY real.
If you eat the product
after the expiry date,
you might become seriously ill.

But many expiry dates
are flexible.

They might be the date
the manufacturers
guarantee the vitamin content
is valid by, for example.

Or they might be a marketing tactic,
such as
in the case of
Twinkies
and many canned goods,
which don’t truly have
ANY expiry date.

Check the REAL expiry date
before tossing items
(especially those pricy
COVID test kits).

One More Use

My challenge to myself
is to use
everything
one more time.

I pay monthly
for a newsletter service,
for example.

I always send one newsletter
a month.

I challenge myself
to send an additional newsletter.

That doesn’t cost
anything more than time and effort.
My subscribers like
receiving the additional newsletter.
And I gain more book sales.

I do this with things like packaging also.
I wash the tiny takeout sauce containers
and use them for seeds.
I use the resealable food packages
to hold stickers or pens.
I use larger takeout containers
to store leftovers.

I try to use everything
one more time.
And those little cost savings add up
over the year.

Use everything
one more time.

A Lot Of People Experience This

An online friend
had black hairy tongue.

She was told
that ‘a lot of people’
get it after a COVID infection.

What she WASN’T told
was ‘a lot of people’
had died
after having those symptoms.

She brushed off
the advice to go
to the hospital.

And she died within a week.
(Mask up, friends.
This d@mn pandemic
isn’t over.)

Hearing ‘a lot of people’
or
‘a lot of businesses’
experience something
doesn’t mean
it ends well for
those people/businesses.

All it means
is there is likely
a lot of research
already completed on
your experience.

Study that research.
Take your situation
seriously.
And please mask
the f*ck up.

The Endless Cycle Of Layoffs And Hiring

Many companies,
especially those in tech,
are laying off
massive numbers of skilled employees.

Many of these companies
were already quite lean.
These employees were necessary
for the long term health
of the companies.

But, to appease shareholders,
the company can forgo their contributions
for the spring and summer.

Many of their salespeople,
for example,
were given incentives
to close deals
and renew existing customer contracts
early.

In the fall,
the companies will likely
rehire for many of the vacant positions.

But many of the employees
laid off now
will have to find new jobs
before that time.

NOW is the time
for smaller companies,
for start ups
to hire.

Take advantage
of that gap
between layoffs
and rehiring.