If you haven’t heard of him, Tim Tebow is the Denver Broncos “quarterback” (sorry, I just had to do it!) who is being called the most polarizing figure in all of sports.  He is a devout Christian, virgin, missionary, leader, spokesman, exceptional athlete, champion, and author.  He’s even the progenitor of the worldwide phenomenon known as Tebowing.   But, for everything good he does and says off the field, he leaves much to be desired on the field.  What does this all have to do with the business world?  Everything!

There are some people who believe that you need to market and sell yourself when you run a business.  While the people behind the company are fairly important, customers, both current and potential, really only care about the bottom line–the product and service you sell.  This is where the analogy connects:

At the beginning of the NFL season, Tebow was not the starting quarterback for the Broncos.  During a 1-4 open to the season, the fanbase (customers) started calling for, and even campaigning via billboards for Tebow to become the starter. The team finally handed the quarterback position over to him in the hopes that he could turn the team’s fortunes around.  What ensued was a stretch where the team went 7-1 as Tebow as the starter and everyone was flush with TebowMania. Questions still remained about the longterm viability of his remaining the starting quarterback, but the fans were happy with the increased number of wins. Unfortunately, that did not last very long, as the team lost its last three games of the season, with the fans one again becoming disgruntled with the poor play from the quarterback position.

What does this all prove?  It proves that regardless of how classy and virtuous a person he was away from the football field, Tim Tebow’s results on the field took the fans on a roller coaster ride of satisfaction and discontent.  This is the same thing that occurs in any other business industry.

If you look at any company in the world, there are both revered and despised people running them, yet those characteristics mean very little relative to the products or services their companies produce.  Companies that provide great services to their customers win them over regardless of what else go on.  The best surgeon in the world may have the absolute worst bedside manner, but will never be passed over if their expertise is needed because of it (think Dr. House). Some of the biggest defense attorneys in the country are characterized as evil and shameless but continue to be hired for their results in the courtroom.  People are constantly overlooking personal shortcomings in favor of superior results.

Sports business is huge, the fans are the ultimate consumer, purchasing tickets to the games and a wide array of licensed merchandise, and their loyalty hinges on the product that is put out by teams on the field of play.  And, just like the case of the estimable Tim Tebow, the results are ultimately what customers desire, more so than any other factor.  Selling yourself can only carry so much weight if the product or service your company sells isn’t superior and/or doesn’t fulfill customers’ ultimate needs and expectations.

Just like Tim Tebow, who will always be questioned and second-guessed, so will your business until you can establish a history of consistently positive results for your customers.

This article, Like With Tim Tebow, Customers Only Care About Your Results was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

It is perhaps the true “American Dream”: to leave your job working for someone else and start your own business.  The idea is that not only do you have more control–over your time commitment, pay, the types of customers you deal with–but it also enables people to engage in an activity they actually have a passion for.  However, just having that passion is not enough to make a venture successful.  It takes thorough planning, researching all of the available resources, and a major time investment.  The following is an outline describing several key steps that need to be considered when making the leap from employee to employer (in no particular order of importance since they are all important).  The planning stage is perhaps the most important of the entire process, as these decisions will affect everything that follows.

• Choose something that you have a passion for.  This venture is still a job, and you will be less likely to put forth the requisite effort and care if you are not emotionally attached to the business.
   
• Never just decide one day to quit your job.  You need to have reserves or cash flow to cover personal as well business expenses in case it takes longer to establish a customer base and start turning a profit.
   
• Do your research into the market you are looking to get into.  Unless you have a new invention or can revolutionize a current process, you need to find a niche market in which you can differentiate yourself from every other similar business.
   
• Always consult a legal professional, preferably one that specializes in business start-ups or an accounting professional.  They will be the best source of guidance when it comes to selecting a business structure and naming issues, as well as state and local licensing issues.
   
• Stick to what you know best and do not try to do everything yourself!  If you are not good at handling finances, then hire an accountant or bookeeper.  If you are not graphically inclined, then hire a design firm to create your logo and marketing tools.  It is always cheaper to spend the money and have it done right from the beginning than it is to fix a problem.
   
• Do not rush.  Take your time and make sure that everything is to your specification.  You need to be able to 100% ready for business from day the doors first open.
   
• Network.  Tell everyone you know about your business.  Word of mouth is the cheapest and most effective form of marketing.  Also solicit their opinions on everything from the name of the business to the logo design to the promotions you will be having.  Having outsiders who are less biased critique your business leads to more honest answers and will most likely reflect the public’s opinions as well.
   
• Make sure to budget enough money for advertising & marketing. Even if you are running a business out of your parents’ house you want to put forward a professional image, not one that is based on a free email account, marketing materials with another company’s logo and information imprinted on it, or a  
   
• Have patience.  Success is not an overnight occurrence, and generally will take much time, effort, and work.
   
• Talk to people who are successful in the industry you are looking to enter (although try to choose people who you will not be in direct competition with).  Try to pick their brains as much as you can without seeming to be intrusive.  Many successful people are more than happy to share their stories.
   
• Join professional associations, the local Chamber of Commerce, networking groups.  Form strategic alliances with other who offer similar yet distinctive products or services to gain mutual benefit.
   
• Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks, just take care not to be too reckless.
   
• Make sure to get the proper insurance.  Business liability and error & omission insurance are quite necessary in many professions.  And do not overlook property and business interruption insurance which will take care of lost revenues in case of natural disaster or other even that causes you to vacate the property.
   
• Above all else, surround yourself with positive people who will support you and your ideas! 

This list is by no means complete, and in my estimation can never be considered complete.  There are just too many things that need consideration, and everything varies by experience level and industry.  This is just a guide.

This article, Starting A Business The Right Way was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

Why am I writing about Derek Jeter on this blog?  Is it because I am a lifelong Yankees fan?  Is it because he just made history by joining the coveted 3,000 hit club, becoming the first and only Yankee to do so?  Is it simply because I like to talk anything about sports?  The answers are: yes, yes, and yes.  However, there is more; this is a once in a generation athlete we are talking about, one who transcends the sport he plays, and sports in general like no other. The things he does on the baseball diamond, the things he does off of the diamond, and especially the things he doesn’t do off of the diamond have endeared him to millions not just as a baseball icon, but as a great leader and more importantly person, period. Anyone looking to become a better businessperson can definitely learn a few things from Derek Jeter and would be wise to emulate these 4 traits:

Persistence

Even though he was the sixth overall pick in the 1992 Major League Baseball draft, he was still stuck in the minors for almost 4 years before becoming the everyday shortstop for the Yankees in 1996.  In his first season in the minor leagues, he batted only .202, while committing 56 errors in only 126 games in his second season.  Since then, he went on to become Yankees Captain, 5-time World Series winner, a Rookie of the Year, multiple-time All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger recipient, All-Star Game MVP, World Series MVP.  Even in later years, when it was suggested that his defense was slipping a little and wasn’t up to his usual standard, he went back and rededicated himself to improving that aspect of his game.

What you can learn:

Simple: don’t let roadblocks get in your way permanently; learn to overcome them.  It may take some time, and almost certainly will not happen overnight, but patience and persistence will be key in helping you to overcome what is in your way.  It’s ok to get discouraged, but you cannot give up without giving it everything you have.  And, just because you have achieved any level of success, there are always aspects of of a business that can be improved, there is no such thing as reaching perfection.

Pride & Professionalism

These two go hand in hand, since you can’t be professional about your job if you aren’t proud to be doing it.  Derek Jeter brings both to the table.  As the team Captain, and as a fan of the Yankees, he is always stating how it is an honor and privilege to get the chance to put on the uniform every day.   Additionally, everything to him is about the company.  He rarely in interviews uses “I” or “me”, but rather speaks of “us” and “we” even when answering questions directed toward him personally, signifying the concept of there being no “I” in team.  And, even for someone of his celebrity status, it is rare to hear of anything he does in the media.  For his part, he tries to keep a low profile, and cause any distraction from the team and what it is trying to accomplish.

What you can learn:

Take pride in what you do, and who you work for.  Take yourself out of the equation; make it about the product/service and the company not about a single individual even if it is just you doing it all. Understand that no matter who the person is, no one is bigger than the company as a whole.  Act like you’ve been a success all along, not like a kid in a candy store acting foolish.

Dedication & Selflessness

In a game against the Boston Red Sox in July of 2004, Jeter dove head first into the stands while making a catch.  This was an “insignificant” game in relation to an entire season and how far along the season has progressed to that point, but some people just don’t see anything as insignificant.  On July 10, 2011 he recorded his 3,000th hit in the 3rd inning; many people would have called it a day and took the rest of the game off to bask in the glory, but he not only finished the game, but ended with 5 hits in 5 at-bats and driving in the winning run.  As a matter of fact, he also played the following day and led off that game with a hit as well.

What you can learn:

You can’t always play it safe; even if there doesn’t appear to be anything on the line you need to give all you can.  Even if you accomplish a specific goal, the day isn’t over, and tomorrow will be the same. Set your sights on the next goal, and begin working toward it right away, there’s no sense in delaying it.

Even though at first glance, you may not have put these two subjects together, you have to admit that there is a certain correlation between captaining perhaps the greatest sports franchise on the planet and running a successful business.  Even if you can’t see the direct symmetry, read this over again and see if you can figure out how to implement these qualities in your business life.  I guarantee at the very least you’ll have a different perspective than you did before reading this!

This article, Become A Better Businessperson by Emulating These 3 Traits Derek Jeter Exemplifies was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with shopping around for the best deals or using coupons to bring down the final price of goods/services.  It has to do with being outright cheap and expecting more for it.

The above title says it all. No matter how you try to justify or spin it, it’s quite simple: in life, you do get what you pay for.  No matter what you are talking about, products or services: in life, you get what you pay for.  No matter if it’s in business or in your personal life: in life, you get what you pay for.  And, for all intents and purposes, if you don’t pay anything: in life, you get what you pay for, so when you don’t pay you shouldn’t expect much at all.

Trying to cut costs in the office

I know a couple of guys who run a CPA office.  Not a big place, just the two of them and a secretary. About a year ago, they started to lose some clients; some were due to death while others due to their businesses going under in the poor economy.  Logically, the first thing they did was discuss cutting back on costs, like using generic ink and toner, cancelling the bottled water service, switching to a new telecom service.  But the one thing you NEVER do is cheap out on what directly affects your output, which in this case is tax preparation software.  The boys decided that they would make the switch from the leading (albeit most expensive) tax package to a fairly new name in the game with much less experience and a much smaller price tag.

Fast forward to the next tax season, and well what do you know? The new program didn’t convert all of the previous data properly, and for their bigger clients it didn’t provide the necessary tools they needed. As far as the customer service, it was a breeze to get through to someone–most likely because they didn’t have many customers to service–although the expertise of those agents wasn’t close to that of the more expensive company they ran away from.  I heard that and literally had to bite my tongue so as not to laugh.  I felt like asking what they could have possible been thinking when making that switch.  The last I heard, they are in the process of making another switch up to a pricier program, but not at the same level as they were originally at.

The lesson here: in life (and business), you get what you pay for.

The used car conundrum

I wrote a post called The Best Money Advice I Ever Received yesterday, and mentioned that my first car was a 1986 burgundy Pontiac Sunbird with an oxidized hood and roof (you can read the back story here).  Well, I purchased the car in 1994, making it approximately 9 years old at the time, and it was supposedly cared for by a mechanic friend of my father’s.  I was assured that aside from the physical appearance (which he couldn’t control very much), the car was in perfect health.  Now I can’t remember how many miles were on the wreck, but it wasn’t a really high number for the age, and it only cost me $1,100 so I had my first car.

The details are a bit fuzzy at this point, but I do recall having to drive out to Brooklyn from Staten Island a few times for issues such as the timing belt needing tightening or outright replacing at one point, but nothing too serious.  That was until I tried driving it to Buffalo and back in my first year of college. When I tell you that I could have run faster than the car was going uphill, it is no exaggeration!  The car had no pick-up, no power and, to finish off the the story, the car died on me going down a hill!

The lesson here: in life (and business), you get what you pay for.

The used car conundrum II

The car I purchased to replace that piece of junk, wasn’t much better, and why would it be? Realistically it couldn’t be all that big of an improvement if a college student was purchasing it almost immediately after his first car suddenly died.  But, I was able to get a 1991 Geo Storm for a reasonably fair price (or so I remember).  The problem with this car wasn’t so much the engine as it was something completely different and ridiculous.  Back up in Buffalo for the 2nd year of my college career, the Storm was great or so I thought.  That was before the winters and the freezing temperatures.  So, what went wrong this time?  You may never believe this, but the door handles would freeze and snap out of place! Yes, essentially it was like a shoulder dislocating and needing to be popped back in place, except we didn’t have time to wait as we would be freezing, so it was off to the back so one of us could climb through the hatchback and open the doors from the inside!

The lesson here: in life (and business), you get what you pay for. (No matter how ridiculous the story may be)

The job ad with the lowball payments

Ok, so this one isn’t relegated to the businesses out there.  You know, the ads seeking someone to answer phones, file, take dictation, clean the office, get the dry cleaning, drive the boss around (well maybe that last one was a stretch).  Then when you get to the compensation part, it’s for like $8 an hour.  I don’t know who comes up with these things, but I swear it’s like they think they are the ones who get the short end of the deal.  Here’s how it sounds to me:

All we wanted to do was to pay someone a garbage hourly fee to do everything that no one else wanted to do around here, and  give it their all with a smile on their face and bells on their shoes.  We can’t imagine why they only lasted one day and seemed so pissed when they were here.

 

The same thing goes for the people who don’t want to pay a professional to cut their grass, trim the trees, wash the car, etc.  If you go to a neighborhood kid and offer him/her a nominal price to do the job (and they know, believe me they know) what on Earth would make you think that they would even care enough to do a complete and exceptional job?  It’s not like they’re trying to start a business doing it, and they know exactly how much effort should be put in commensurate with the pay.

The lesson here: in life (and business), you get what you pay for.

You use free stuff and still complain

You know who you are. You use open source programs such as OpenOffice, have free email accounts like Gmail, AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc., host your site or blog for free on WordPress or Blogger. Yet, you always find something to complain about. Or if something really isn’t right and you can’t find a support number you bitch even louder. Guess what, when you get things for free, expect to make some concessions! You can’t have your cake and eat it too–there’s no fee for things because they may not have an on-site support team, or maybe it’s made up of volunteers who simply can’t get to you “Mr. (or Mrs.) Important Big Shot” right away. Deal with it.

The lesson here: don’t be cheap and you won’t have as much to complain about!

Look, it’s all well and good to try to find the best deal you can, but there comes a time when you have to realize that it’s not always in your best interest to be cheap and cut every corner you possible can to save a buck or two.  Sure everyone likes to get a bargain, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of quality, nor should you be foolish enough to think that just because you are paying that you will get the best.  If you are that foolish I have some bad news for you:

It’s a fact of life (and business): you get what you pay for!

This article, Fact of Life (And Business): You Get What You Pay For was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.