New Business Development – Page 60

Reliable Data

There is SO much misinformation
floating around
that it is challenging
to find reliable data
with which
we can make business decisions.

I try my best
to look at data
that can’t be f*cked with
or manipulated.

For example,
if we’re looking at COVID numbers,
almost all of those stats
can be manipulated.
Infection numbers
are WAY f*ckin’ low
because many people are testing
in their homes.
ICU numbers
are also sh*t
because a lot of COVID cases
aren’t being counted
as COVID cases.
Even COVID death numbers
are sh*t
for the same reason.

The number that can’t be
f*cked with
(as much)
is…
Excess Deaths,
how many more deaths
per capita
we are enduring today
vs the average/a point in the past.

Our own data is also
semi-reliable
for decision making.

The government
(who wants to be re-elected)
can tell me
inflation is only X%
but if I look at
my expenses/cost of sales
and see
THAT increase is 2X%,
I will be using MY number
in my decision making.

Take the time
to ensure the data
you’re using
for decision making
is reliable.

Supply Masks And Testing For Employees

A loved one’s employer
has stopped supplying
masks and COVID test kits
to everyone
EXCEPT senior executives.

Their reasoning was
very few people
were using the masks
and the test kits.

Which is sh*t logic.
If not many people
were using them,
then it wouldn’t cost much
to continue the program.

And the company could continue
to say
they were supplying
the masks and test kits,
which would make
every employee
feel valued
and cared for.

If your employees
care about masks and test kits,
supplying them
makes them feel cared for
AND
it keeps everyone
a bit safer.

If your employees
don’t care about masks and test kits,
supplying them
costs very little
AND
it makes employees
feel like you care about them.

If you can afford it,
supply masks and test kits.
It will differentiate your business
to prospective employees.

Protest Laws SHOULD Scare Us

Many governments
around the world
are putting increasingly restrictive
protest laws in place.

The average person
doesn’t care
about this
because we don’t have
anything to protest
at this time.

But we SHOULD care
because
governments are focusing
on this area
for a reason.

They know
there WILL be decisions
the average person
(and likely the average business)
will object to
in the very near future.

These protest laws
are a warning
– terrible decisions
are coming.

Consider protesting
the protest laws.

There’s No Labor Shortage

At client k,
I believe in blunt talk
and the blunt talk
is…

There’s no labor shortage.

Even with COVID deaths
and long COVID disabilities,
there are more people
in the world
able to work
than there are paying jobs
for them.

If you can’t find employees
to work in your business,
there’s something wrong
with your offer.

That ‘wrong’
is likely pay.
The salary you’re offering
is likely too low
in this current market
for what you’re asking
employees to do.

The key bit of that sentence
is
‘in this current market.’

The market is always changing
because the world is always changing.

Four years ago,
for example,
a salesperson wasn’t worried
about possibly getting COVID
from her prospect
and dying.

Today, she factors
that risk
into her asking salary.

Or the issue could be
something else entirely.

Once you figure out
why employees are accepting jobs
elsewhere
and
you solve that issue,
you’ll fill that empty role.

Because there’s no labor shortage.

Employees Who Care Are PITAs

There’s a myth
in business building
that employees who care
about the business,
the product/service,
customers
are the easiest employees
to manage.

Because they are driven.
That’s the thinking.
We don’t have to inspire
them to work.
They inspire themselves.

In reality,
self-driven, passionate employees
are complete pains
in the a$$es
to manage.

They don’t blindly do
what we want them to do.
They argue on behalf
of the customers,
the products/services,
the company.
They tend to make decisions
on their own.

These decisions,
these independent actions,
these determined employees
often make
our businesses better.
They are great assets,
awesome sources
of improvements.

But they are NOT
easy to manage.
Not at all.

Embrace that.

(This post is dedicated
to Tom H.,
a quality control expert
whose passion
made him a complete PITA
to work with
but whose stances
are now embedded in a certain
huge beverage company
decades after he left.
He made this world
a better place
and I was fortunate
to have known him.)

Missing Snow Crabs And Being Current In Your Industry

It was announced
that billions of snow crabs
have gone ‘missing’
causing the ‘harvest’
to be canceled
for the first time ever.

Coverage seems
to imply the disappearance
is a great mystery.

It isn’t a mystery
and it wasn’t a surprise.

The Canadian government
released a report
years ago
talking about how
snow crabs
(and eventually lobsters)
won’t be a viable industry
as the oceans warm
and become more acidic.

They suggested
businesses in the industry
look for alternative sources
of income.

Anyone who remained current
in the snow crab industry
(which includes restaurants serving
snow crabs,
the tiny tourist places
that sell
snow crab-themed products,
etc.)
knew this day was coming.
They would have prepared
for it.

Ensure you or someone on your team
reads the reports
involving your industry.

That information
could save your business.

COVID And Climate Change And Building A Business

I will be talking
quite a bit about the impacts
of COVID and climate change
on this blog
because
…well…
these events will eventually
impact every aspect
of the businesses
we’re building.

And not many people
are talking about
either of these events
because it upsets
the people
who don’t believe in them.

These events
don’t care
about our beliefs.
They will happen
whether we believe in them
or not.

If we want our businesses
to be successful,
if we want to survive
these events,
we should prepare
for them.

Like allowing for extra shipping times
during this upcoming holiday season.

Order products
before you desperately need them.

Send products
to customers as quickly as possible.

Urge in your marketing materials
for customers to order
your products
as soon as possible
(November instead of December).

Work on making the turnaround time
between orders and shipping
shorter.

Climate change and COVID
will impact our businesses.
Plan for that.

Leaders Are Stress Absorbers

A loved one has a new boss.
This loved one’s job
is already super stressful.
The new boss
is unnecessarily
adding to that stress.

Which means
the new boss isn’t doing
THEIR job.

One of our tasks
as leaders
(and business builders
ARE leaders)
is to absorb stress.

We clear that sh*t
out of the way
so our people don’t have
to worry about it.
They can concentrate
on doing their jobs
to the best
of their abilities.

Absorb the stress.
Relay only the emotions
your people need
to do their jobs.

The Little Actions Count

“Masks only make a tiny difference,”
a friend told me yesterday.

They might only make a tiny difference
but that tiny difference
taken every day
multiplied by three years
has resulted in me
only having had COVID once
while my friend, a non-mask-wearer,
has had it three times.

Those multiple infections
means he can no longer walk
around the block
without needing a rest.

(And yet he still mocks people
who wear masks.)

Small actions make a difference
over time.

I pick up a bit of garbage
every day.
Our neighborhood,
years later,
is now quite a bit cleaner
than neighborhoods located
close to ours.

I post an extra promo
on social media
every day.
My sales have stayed level
while the sales
of many writing buddies
have dropped.

Little actions matter.

COVID And Decision-Making

A business building buddy
told me yesterday
she was tired of
hearing about COVID.
She just wanted
it to be over.

Tough sh*t.
As business builders,
we don’t have
the luxury
to pretend it is over.

First,
COVID isn’t over.
People continue
to die
and get sick
and develop permanent issues
(like brain damage)
from COVID
every dang day.

With everyone,
except the wealthy
and the powerful,
dropping precautions,
COVID is likely to be with us
for the rest of our lives.

The impacts on our businesses
will definitely remain.
COVID has changed the world
permanently.

We have more prospects
and customers
using wheelchairs.

We have more prospects
and customers
requiring reminders
due to their COVID-caused
brain damage.

We have more employees
and partners
out sick
because COVID
is still here.

As business builders,
we NEED to continue
talking about COVID
and the impacts on
our businesses.

It is unfortunate
but it is reality.