My Thoughts by Rick Stephens

Tomorrow, January 15, 2007, we recognize one of this country’s greatest advocates to civil rights, a man who courageously stood firm for the rights of African Americans during a time when almost no one was willing to allow the African American equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We celebrate the day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the only holiday this country has using the name of an American Citizen. At one time we celebrated Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday, but those holidays have transformed into Presidents Day in recognition of all of our Presidents.

The other day, a friend of the family who is 9 years old, asked me a very provocative and thoughtful question, a question generated from the innocence of a child. She asked, “Why do we have a Martin Luther King Day but not a John F. Kennedy Day?” I probed a little before I answered the question to try and understand what she was really asking. It turns out that she did not understand the reason there were events and days that were specifically focused on the African American population.

Of course, I tried to explain that African Americans in this country were severely suppressed for many years, and it was during a difficult period of our country’s history that one man, Dr. Martin Luther King, stood firm under extreme adversity to bring respect, pride, and equality to this segment of our population. Even while I attempted to articulate the reason for a day named for an African American, I began to ask some of my own questions.

Why do we continue to separate the African American from the rest of the nationalities in this country? We have a Miss Black America Pageant, Black Entertainment Television, etc. I understand that every nationality wants, and needs, to be recognized, and we should all be proud of our heritage. That is not in question here, but these types of events go beyond pride and seem to define equality as something that is still segregated from all others. Was it not the goal of the Civil Rights movement to garner parity for African Americans, or was it to reinforce the attitude of the 1957 version of the Civil Rights Act, “Equal but Separate?”

We made an awful mistake during our early history, and the world has made many of these types of mistakes during its struggle to become a civilized society. I believe it is time we truly grant equality to the races. It has been almost 50 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed and almost 140 years since slavery was legal in this country. It is time we come together, once and for all, put aside our mistakes of the past, allow this wound to heal, and move forward as a united country.

Regarding MLK Day, my friend was right, why do we have a Martin Luther King Day and no John F. Kennedy Day? After all, there were many significant people who were contributors to the passing and subsequent strengthening of the Civil Rights Act, including Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Linda Brown and her father Oliver, who challenged segregation in the public schools (Brown v. the Board of Education), James Meredith (University of Mississippi), and many other courageous Americans, some whose names we will never hear. They all were willing to make tremendous sacrifices in order to propel our nation out of this nightmare. They too should be recognized for their efforts.

Perhaps it would be a major step forward if we changed the name of Martin Luther King Day as we did with Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday, to Civil Rights Day, or some other name which we can use to acknowledge all of the great Americans who contributed to the goal of equality for everyone.

To quote the venerated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his infamous March on Washington, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.’ ” I believe that if we truly want to reach this goal and become a nation united and equal as Dr. King’s dream portrayed, we need to stop segregating our races and come together under one name, Americans.

To Your Success,

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you had a restful holiday season and have prepared yourself for a productive and prosperous new year.

I apologize for the unusual delay since my last post, but I was also enjoying the holidays, reflecting on the year gone by, and planning for the coming year.

As I was relaxing on the beach in Curacao, (Yes, I was gone for awhile on vacation) I began to think about my goals and objectives for the coming year. As I did so, I began to reflect on the concept of time and how uncontrollable it is. Each year, many of us make New Year resolutions, some that are realistic and some not so realistic, but often those resolutions quickly become lost as life, work, and obligations begin to consume our days.

I don’t want to lecture you on the traditional topic about keeping your resolutions and annual goal setting. I think most of you reading this have had enough of that type of discussion and will either do it or not. But there is one thing I do want to mention with regard to time and how it impacts us all.

We cannot control the passing of time. It will happen regardless of anything we do. I know that seems pretty obvious, but what is very sad is how most of us will develop a dream and slowly watch the years pass by without ever seeing it fulfilled. We should recognize how essential it is to take the first step toward that dream no matter what the circumstances may be in our life. If you don’t, time will take you hostage, and you will someday reflect on the past and say those familiar words, “If I had only…”

Consider the following example to illustrate my point. I have an elderly friend whom I have known my entire life. This lady is very active in her church. During the last 30 plus years, she has become a recognized Lay minister/leader in her home church as well as the community in which she lives. About 15 years ago, we were discussing life’s events and she mentioned to me that if she could do it all over again she would go to Seminary and become an Ordained Minister. I suggested that she do it now. Her response was very typical, “Oh, I can’t do that now, I’m too old.” At the time she was 60 years of age. She could have gone to school for 6 years, obtained her degree, and today she could have been living her dream for 10 years, with many more to come. Instead, she is still doing what she was doing 15 years ago, and continuing to reflect on, “If I had only…”

My friend is not unhappy with her achievements, and in fact, can be very proud of who she is and what she has given to her community. The difference is the dream.

She could have made her dream come true if she had not let her circumstance convince her that it was too late. Time will continue to pass no matter what you do. Don’t let it take you hostage. Resolve to take that first step to achieving your dream, then look back and say,”I’m glad I did that.”

To Your Success,

I just finished watching the amazing documentary “March of the Penguins” and could not help but think how incredible the animal world is. Even without an MBA or any other type of formal training, animals (in this case penguins) have somehow captured what many business owners fail to grasp, even after years of education and experience.

Over the years, these penguins have managed to evolve (read: continuous improvement) and adapt to the most brutal of all climates. Every year they leave the comfort of their home and march over 70 miles, overcoming enormous obstacles to gather in a place where every penguin for thousands of years has been born. According to the documentary, they endure temperatures of over 58 degrees below zero and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. They do this while procreating their species in a manner that can only be appreciated by watching the movie.

We as business owners should observe these creatures and learn at least 2 valuable lessons from them. The first is the requirement to be continually improving our processes, and the second is to follow the processes with absolute precision.

Too many times, business owners run their company by “winging it.” Though they may be successful for a period of time, the odds are overwhelming that eventually they will make a fatal mistake and all will be lost. Taking our cue from the animal world should be a lesson in humility for us. The animals probably don’t understand why they do what they do; they just know that it works.

Entrepreneurs don’t need to understand why developing processes and following them work, they just need to do it. Nature didn’t happen by “winging it”, but rather methodically through continuous improvement and doing what works, every time. If penguins can march – so can we.

To Your Success -

I was informed yesterday that one of the major shopping outlets this year would stop greeting customers as they walk into their store with the politically correct phrase, “Happy Holidays.” Instead, they have instructed their employees to use the politically incorrect phrase of, “Merry Christmas.”

It seems that every business in the USA has changed their language around this time of the year to be inoffensive to the public by referring to the season as the holidays. We have Holiday parties instead of Christmas parties, we send out Holiday greeting cards instead of Christmas cards, and so on.

I appreciate the bold move by this major shopping outlet. Yes, they will probably get their share of criticism, but they made this move based upon a very basic business principal, market research. Through their research they determined that the consumer, on average, spends more money in their store when they are greeted with the phrase, “Merry Christmas” than they do with the generic, “Happy Holidays.”

Is it wrong for a business to remember why they are in business and to act accordingly? I think not. Every business, including yours, has the obligation to earn as much as possible for their stakeholders. The success of your business creates jobs, strengthens the economy, reduces government subsidies, and makes children happy (Merry Christmas!).

We can learn a very important business lesson here. Following the crowd may seem to be the right thing to do, but don’t fail to validate the results through quality market research. Don’t waste money or lose money because of your failure to measure results.

To everyone out there, have a Merry Christmas!!

To Your Success -

Do you have customers or do you have clients? Someone asked me yesterday to explain the difference. He claimed that it was just semantics and that basically customers were clients and vice versa. I was surprised that he felt that way, because there is a distinctively important difference between the two.

So exactly what is the difference between a customer and a client? Let’s look at a couple of examples of each, and you will understand why having clients is better than having customers.

If you walk into a convenience store and buy a cup of coffee, are you a customer or a client? You are a customer, of course. If you go to a lawyer’s office and hire the attorney to represent you, are you a customer or a client? In this case, you are a client. Some might discern that the difference is whether you provide a service or a product. But no, that is not it either. Here is another example. If you go to a car wash and get you vehicle cleaned (a service), are you a customer or a client? In this case you are still a customer. If you go to an insurance agent and purchase a life insurance policy (a product), are you a customer or a client? I would call you a client. So the difference is not whether you provide a product or a service.

The difference is the relationship you have with the person buying from you. Clients make a commitment to buy your product or service from you on a long term basis. A customer is a hit and run type buyer. If you cater to customers, you have to be continually searching for them. Clients on the other hand don’t need to be replaced as often, and they will generally pay you more for your product or service.

If you strive to turn your customers into clients, you will work less and earn more. Will the next person who buys from you be a customer or a client? You decide.

To Your Success -

I was watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy the other night and one of the characters had received a check from a patient that had died. The amount of the check was $8,700,000. Throughout the entire show her roommates kept encouraging her to deposit the check but she kept procrastinating taking it to the bank. Although she kept telling people she was now a millionaire, she was not. Being a millionaire was certainly within her reach, but she just never could take the final step necessary to make it real. When the show ended, she placed the check on a bulletin board and left it there. Her millions, though only a trip to the bank away, were nothing more than a piece of paper with a stick-pin in it.

It occurred to me that many business owners do the same thing everyday. Their dreams are right in front of them, simply a trip to the bank away, but for some reason they just don’t take the final step necessary to make it real. They would rather procrastinate than do what is necessary to reach their goal. Maybe it’s the fear of success that prevents them from taking the step. It could be that they don’t understand how close they are, or maybe they would rather imagine the dream than live it.

Here’s an example. I spoke to a business owner last week who was ready to retire and move out of the day to day operation of his business. We discussed how to do that. We could locate a talented manager to run the business, start examining the books to get a better handle on income and expenses, begin reducing unnecessary inventory, work on reducing long term liabilities, and properly valuate assets. Within a year or so, the business could be sold and a nice retirement for the owner would be realized. The owner leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, in that posture one takes when they daydream. In a minute or two he looked at me and said, “Well, perhaps I’ll take a look at doing that next year.” At that moment, though his retirement was only a drive to the bank away, he pinned the check to the bulletin board, and went on with his normal routine.

What about your dream? Are you taking it to the bank, or Is it pinned to the bulletin board?

To Your Success -

I have spoken to several business owners recently who have said to me that they would like to position the company for sale within the next 3 to 5 years. All of these businesses were financially strong with revenues in excess of $3 million a year.

After speaking with them for awhile, each of them made another interesting comment. They said that they were not interested in growing because they would then have to hire and manage supervisors and additional employees and that would be too much trouble. It would also cause them to lose touch with their customers, which gave them a competitive advantage in the area of Customer Service and Quality Control.

I asked each of them how much the company would be worth without them being there. They all agreed that it would be worth less than their financials indicated, because they were the company. My next question; “So if you go away for a long period of time, what would happen to the business?” Again the answer was basically the same, “It would begin to lose money.”

Can you see the problem here? How can these successful entrepreneurs position their business for sale if all of the Goodwill is positioned on their shoulders? It will be very difficult at best.

So, I respectfully suggested to each of them that they were not doing themselves a favor by staying so close to the business. It was imperative that they start today putting processes in place to allow others (Yes, they may need to hire supervisors and more employees) to run the business. This was not going to happen in just a few months. It could in fact take the entire 3 to 5 years to reach this objective.

If you intend to sell your business and make what it is worth, don’t get caught with the goodwill in your court. Give it to the business.

To Your Success -

The other day I was driving my wife to the super Wal-Mart that she likes to visit. On the way I said, “Let me show you a short cut that will cut off about 2 miles and maybe 5 or 6 minutes of driving time each way.”

I then proceeded to turn down this obscure road and in just a few seconds we re-entered the main road. We had indeed cut off about 2 miles of driving. My wife said, “Do you just drive around looking for strange roads and follow them to see where they go.” “No”, I said, “But I do pay attention to road signs and when I see two that appear to be the same road, I will make an educated assumption that the road will lead to the same place where I saw the other sign.”

Business is much like this. We must keep our eyes open and look for the relationship between signs. When we see them we can feel reasonably sure that the two are connected. By looking for these short cuts in business we can leap ahead of our competition.

Here is an example of what I mean. Suppose you had an Automobile Window Tinting shop. You could spend thousands of dollars on various advertising to get a new customer to come through the door or you could look for the connecting signs. A Windshield Repair shop probably meets with the same types of customers that you meet with. If you could establish a relationship with the Windshield Repair business so that they would refer their customers who need window tinting to you, and you would in turn, refer those who need windshields repaired to them, do you think your walk in business would improve? Probably, and how much would it cost? Nothing more than a few business cards and a solid business relationship between the two companies.

That’s how you connect the signs in business.

To Your Success,

One of the first things I like to do with a new client is to go through a process called SWOT Analysis. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT Analysis is a technique business owners can use to evaluate areas within their operation that can be leveraged for competitive gain or focused upon to improve the business.

When you identify your Strengths, you are bringing into focus that which will give you an advantage over your competitors. Use these strengths as often as possible to improve your competitive edge.

Identifying Weaknesses can stifle and intimidate some people. We don’t like to look at our faults so we tend to minimize them. Be brutally honest with yourself. Recognize that you have strengths that can be used to overcome any shortcomings.

Opportunities are all around us. Don’t let your competitors have an advantage by not reviewing and acting upon opportunities as they present themselves.

What do we mean by Threats? Well, to some it could mean that your competition is closing in on your customer base. To others it could mean that government regulations are restricting some areas of your business. Whatever they are, identify them.

SWOT Analysis will help you see how you are positioned within your industry. Work on strengthening your weakness and removing your threats. At the same time, use your strengths to act upon your opportunities.

There is no better way to improve your business than to look at yourself in the mirror. Utilize SWOT Analysis at least twice per year. Document your findings and then update your vision and business plan accordingly. What? You don’t have a vision or business plan! Put that down as a weakness.

To Your Success -

I speak to my clients on a regular basis about the importance of having specific processes to guide the activities of their business. Processes keep you from having to spend time making decisions about things that come up routinely. It also insures that when something goes wrong, your company is in a position to identify and correct it quickly and that the right choices are being made with or without you being there.

Your business cannot have enough processes. I don’t mean to say that you should create processes for the sake of creating processes, but if it is something you must deal with either routinely or otherwise in your business, a process, or procedure for addressing it is imperative.

The creation of procedures is an ongoing activity. It is unlikely that you will be able to identify all required procedures at one sitting, so you should plan on this being a lifestyle and a commitment that you make to the business.

My lawn service recently failed to mow my back yard after mowing my front yard because the crew did not have my gate combination. I have been a customer for years with the same lock, but the lawn service came real close to losing a long term customer simply because the crew did not have a procedure in place to address this minor problem.

Sometimes a concept like this can be made clearer by exaggerating it. Take a look at NASA for example. They have millions of processes in place that are examined by thousands of people constantly when they are ready to launch a space shuttle. If they miss a procedure someone dies. Your business may not have as grave a result for not having a procedure in place or failing to follow it, but proportional results will occur on a smaller scale. You lose customers.

Create a book of procedures. Add to it until everything you do is documented. A lack of procedures may not kill your customers, but it has been known to kill a lot of companies. Don’t let it be yours.

To Your Success,