Needed Changes

We need to make some quick changes to our business or we may be near the end of a 35 year run. We are aging, we are mired in the old ways of doing things, we have little imagination, our competition gets better and better.

We have lived in a retail world where we expected people to find us and what we had to offer. This worked when we were the only choice in a rural area. Now we are faced with Amazon, New Egg, CDW, etc. Even the big boxes are having to rethink there strategies as they lose market share.

How do we compete with this? Amazon was able to lose millions of dollars for years as they built their business. Venture capitalists were tolerant of the loses because they understood what a giant could be built. Now they are reaping the profits of their trust in that business model. We don’t have venture capital. We can’t afford to lose money as we change our business.

This is really giving me headaches. How do I move us where we need to be when our resources are so strained trying to keep our present business model afloat. It is the death knell of all small businesses. Business slows so you cut employees and/or inventory. Customers don’t get the help they need or find the products they need so business slows even more. So, you are forced to cut more which adversely affects sales. Pretty soon you’re business is gone.

These are some of the problems.

Without an influx of cash to ease us over the needed changes the transition is perilous. As an example, I need to hire at least 5 people and we can’t afford to hire anyone. These people must pay for themselves immediately and I realisticly see it taking 12 – 18 months before they are operating at full strength.

Another example, retail is dead and the sooner we exit from the retail business the better off we will be. Problem, retail has been our business, it’s what we have trrained our employees to do, it’s a big part of our image, Only one portion of our business has any experience in outbound sales. Changing the culture of the other parts of the business to understand we have to go after customers is difficult.

Another example. One of my key salespeople is not adept at change. He works hard, takes care of his customers, but needs time to change directions. I have begged him for the last two years to take advantage of a team concept (teaming up with another customer service rep) to help him service accounts. The team approach allows more touches per customer, more time for the salesperson to work his customers, more opportunities to open new accounts, etc. He can’t wrap his head around this concept (and we don’t have the right people for him to team with) to make this work. The people he needs to work with now don’t understand the concept any better than he does. To make it work I need to hire a team member for him that can inspire him to reach for greater heights.

Another problem. The outside salesperson who most understands what I want to do is semi-retired. They are taking care of their accounts but don’t have the energy or time to do the hard work I need done to open more and more accounts. I wish I could have had this person 20 years ago.

My other outside salesperson is pretty much a lost cause. They have an idea of what a salesperson should do and this cripples their effectiveness. They must run their route to the minute, they will drive past a potential big customers to be sure they are at a small customer at the same time every week.

My inside salespeople do not know how to break out of their daily routines (and because of retail duties it makes this hard to do even if they knew how to do it or had the inclination to try) nor do they seem to want to try. One of them is giving it a good try but she needs more time to be effective, more organization to be effective, and, please, an attention to detail.

The other portions of the business depend on this group of salespeople to sell their proiducts and services as well, all with little to no input.

How do I blow this up and make a real sales organization?

I think my semi-retired salesperson could be a good trainer. This may be the best way to use them until they are ready to fully retire. But for this to work I need to hire a few good people they can work with, another story for another post.

Death in the Family, Part 5

My mother-in-law passed away this week. Cancer is cruel. We all knew she was dying but we all hoped for more time with her. Cancer is cruel. The cancer attacked her liver and when that quit functioning she went very quickly. C is C. If you had seen her 2 or 3 weeks ago you would have known she was ill but she was still smiling, still participating. Suddenly the bottom dropped out.

It’s lucky she did not have to suffer long. It’s lucky she was able to say goodbye to a lot of friends and family. Now the rest of us have to realize that life does go on and we will have to go on as best we can without her. As time passes we will remember the good times more and more and our loss will be easier to handle.

My own mother died of natural causes after years of battling dementia. Dementia is cruel.

While both of these losses are hard to handle they are very different on the survivors. My mother was gone long before she died. She had ceased being the loving parent I remembered and was a crazy charicature of herself. I had years to mourn her passing from my life in a meaningful way before she was finally given the relief of death. My mother-in-law was a vibrant person up until the last month. Yes, the cancer had robbed her of  energy and she couldn’t do everything she wanted to do in the last couple of years but she was there, in mind and body. This sudden loss is very different to handle. You can believe you have come to terms with her coming death but then it happens all too suddenly.

Is there a good way to die? My mother lived in a strange hell for a few years before she died. Yes, there were lucid moments when she was herself and I’m sure she enjoyed those moments with us. But it had to be hard to live in that demented mind and find much peace. She was terrified all too often with demons only she could see and with wierd movies playing constantly in her mind, robbing her of sleep and peace of mind. She spent a significant period of time over the last hew years being scared to death.

Is there a good way to die? My mother-in-law knew she was dying and that death was inevitable from her disease. I think it was probably a month ago that she realized just how quickly it was coming. What do you do? How do you handle things when all of the sudden you don’t have the energy? How do you tell people how much you care? How do you act when you know the end is near? Is this harder than my mother’s dementia? Both are cruel.

In the last couple of days my mother-in-law was alive my wife was there to help care for her. My wife told me that whenever she had to lean close to hear what her mother was saying, or to do something for her, her mother would rise up and give her a kiss. I’m crying. Such a simple little gesture that means so much. A simple gesture of pure love.

Hiring, Smiring

I really hate hiring people. Not that I don’t need the help, not that there aren’t good people looking for work, not that I don’t like people very much, well maybe.

We have an opening. Full time work for a little bit more than minimum wage. I would love to pay more but we are located in Michigan and we are trying to survive.

I run two retail stores and we need people available while we are open and we need to be open if we are to remain retail. Over the last few years we have pared back employees as the economy slowed. Some of them were justified, some left us for other opportunities, some times I just had people double up their duties (usually me) to fill in the spaces. The problem is that it is hard to be stretched thin. Every vacation, sickness, doctor’s appointment becomes a problem.

So I have an immediate need for a low wage body to cover the floor. Being low person on the totem pole they will have the worst selection of hours. Problem #1 is that I have a rather complicated business. No, not really complicated, more multi-faceted but it does require knowledge in a number of different areas.

The resumes I get all seem either from un-qualified losers or over qualified people who will take any job. The problem with those I feel are un-qualified is I will either waste my time trying to train them until I give up in disgust or I may find a gem. The problem with the over qualified is that I can feel them sending out resumes every day looking for work or I may find a gem.

I am going to err on the over qualified and hope they can bring some energy and ideas.

Our business is sound but we could well use some new ideas, a new direction, and after 32 years some new energy. If my new hire can bring me some of that I can find a way to pay them more, to use them in ways they are better suited for, to find a place for them to succeed with us.

That’s why I like these blogs. They give me a chance to write through my problems and realize I do have some answers if I trust my instincts. Sometimes I overthink the problems and until I see them on the screen they are confusing and seem impossible.

Death in the Family, Part 4

This last year has been a real eye opener for me. A rush of emotions I wasn’t sure I had. First my wife’s sister dies suddenly, long before she should have.

Now my wife has moved to be with her parents as her Mother dies of cancer. Just last Thanksgiving her mother made a trip to Eqypt with her son Tim to see her son Kris and her two granddaughters Anna and Gabi. She loved to travel and had a wonderful trip. I think she probably knew it would be her last trip but the rest of us had no idea that her body was on the verge of failing her. What started as breast cancer years ago and had been in remission for years had come back with a vengence and attacked her back and her liver. It is her liver that has now stopped working and she is getting visably worse daily.

My own mother had a rather ugly death. A series of small strokes had left her with dementia and it turned a lovely woman into someone scared with what life would bring. Demons had taken control of her mind and her lucid moments were infrequent. It made her final days very strange I am sure but somehow it made it easier for me to say good bye and deal with her death.

My mother-in-law on the other hand has slipped away very quickly as her body has failed a still strong mind. For me it is harder to deal with because it was only a few days ago she was still strong enough to carry on a conversation, to laugh and joke. The speed of the decline has been amazing.

Life was so much easier when I was a little boy with my whole life in front of me. Now there is more life in my rear view mirror than in front of me. All the old cliches about making every minute matter come flooding through in times like this. If I wasn’t such a cranky old codger I would run around hugging people but I still feel quite a few years of crankiness ahead of me.

It’s such a sad time for my wife. Her mother was her best friend. She called her daily. I hope  this time with her mother allows her to get some closure. It will be a long time before she can put the hurt away and remember the good times. Grief is a powerful emotion and its hold is powerful.

Frustration

I’m always criticized because I don’t talk enough. As if this world doesn’t have enough people ready and willing to talk.

Being a boss the fact that I don’t talk much means my employees start to make things up. They take their own feelings and insecurities and lay them at my doorstep. All of the sudden I am accused of doing things I never did, of thinking things I never thought, of taking sides between employees, of not understanding.

The funny thing is that I do tell them in many ways what I feel, what I believe they should be doing or how they are doing it.

I think the problem is that they are all interested in talking and not a bit in listening. It is quite a bit like our national political discussion or lack thereof. People only seem to want to listen to themselves, talking and talking, never taking the time to think or listen, especially listen, especially think.

I have had to stop listening to what goes for political discourse. I have had to stop talking to others about anything that can be reduced to a sound bite. If they ask my opinion I will tell them but I am too tired to ask people to think anymore.

That people are still stupidly rascist, too willing to accept stereotypes and too stupid to think for themselves, and I have been dealing with open rascists for my entire life.

They e-mail stupid rascists jokes and think nothing of it, they make stupid rascists jokes to your face and expect you to chuckle, they make you sick and they think they are being cute.

And yet, if you took away this rascism, they are fantistic people, caring and generous, as long as they are among their own kind, yet, there is that one thing, that rascism.

You can go down the line of issues and see where the little people all seek to protect what they have at the expense of what they have.

Global warming, come on it still snows. Health care, come on I have mine get a job. Government, come on it is about time to get those bastards out of our lives. Military spending, come on just who do you think is going to save the world from all those people who don’t think USA is the best. Immigration, come on it’s time to get those illegals out of our country, stealing jobs, spreading drugs and crime, and they don’t look like us anyway.

I would like to be optomistic and think man will find a way but unless we start to think and listen, as well as talk, we are doomed.

Small Independent Businesses

Look at two web sites. www.350project.net and www.10%shift.org.

Both of these organizations have interesting approaches to keeping small Independent businesses alive. The 3-50 Project asks that you choose 3 local independent businesses that you would miss if they were not around and commit to spending $50.00 total at these three businesses each month. The 10% Shift asks you to take 10% of the dollars you spend at large national big box stores and spend that money at local, independent businesses.

Neither of the groups asks you to take all your money and switch to local businesses they just ask that you pick a few businesses you would miss and give them a chance.

As a small businessman I can assure that all we ask is for a chance to prove what we have to offer. I am sure, in most cases, you will be pleasantly surprised. In my particular business probably over 90% of the products we sell are priced lower than our big box competitor but it is impossible for us to match their advertising and the perception that advertising begets.

Death in the family, part three

It’s strange dealing with death. I wasn’t close to this person but people I care a lot about were. I feel the loss and the pain. It’s difficult to keep running different scenarios through your head about what happened and what could have been done to avoid it. Even though, intellectually, I know there is little we could have done differently you still have to run these scenarios. You have to let your mind wrap around what has happened, you have to understand it from all angles, you hope you learn the warning signs, you hope you will act differently if you are in the same situation again. Even though you know, intellectually, that even acting differently would probably have brought the same result.

She had a disease. Her blood alcohol level was incredibly high. While I knew she had a drinking problem I assumed she drank often, hiding her drinking, and eventually passed out. Now I learn she drank large amounts of alcohol quickly. Neither scenario is good but the first means you’re a drunk, the second means you’re dead.

Out of ignorance I assumed she was a closet drunk and with some form of a 12 step program she could dry out and start a new phase of her life. I’ve never had experience with anyone with her type of problem. Everyone talks about being depressed but this type of depression is something I have heard about but never experienced.

In times when we need people the most our mind tells us to pull away. If we hide our problem no one will notice, if we act like their is nothing wrong we can fool people. Our mind tells us that when the time is right we will get the help we need. It’s a survival instinct that may work in some situations, but not with mental illness, not when our inner demons are trying to kill you.

Death in the Family, part 2

I think I’m still in a state of shock. We all know people who have problems. We help, offer help, ignore, turn the blind eye, whatever our response but we never expect a quick death.

A mother, age 52, with a son at home should not die.

I worry that family members will want to take the blame, “Why didn’t we see this coming”, “Why didn’t we do more”, “If only…” but they shouldn’t. They gave this woman their love, help, and support. It is a tragic accident.

I have always thought that the demons we all have are only slightly below the surface. When I see someone with problems I’m thankful my demons are still hidden. I try not to judge people when these demons have control unless they refuse to acknowledge their demons. If they realize their problems and are working to fight back against the demons I support them.

Life is a wonderful thing but it is so fragile. People can be taken from you  in the blink of an eye. When you think you have time to help, or to tell someone how much you care, suddenly the time is gone.

I was brought up a loner, by a loner mother, but I always knew I was loved. My family, although not the most emotional or close, was supportive in their own way of my hopes and dreams. When I married into this new family I was struck by the closeness of the family. I guess growing up on a farm, depending on each other, being close in age, had created a closeness I didn’t feel from my own family. But I did come to realize that the closeness was not as close as it seemed. Although they communicate frequently and support each other they do not really listen to each other. They all live their own lives and hide problems from each other just as much as most families.

I think most of them were shocked at the problems that led to their sister dying. The sister, although from a close family, obviously felt very alone. Their is no one in the family that would not have done anything they could to help her in any way they could. But the demons do not allow us to ask for help. The demons tell us they know best.

Death in the Family

My sister-in-law died last night. She had been battling drinking demons for a few years and last night the demons won.

She left behind two sons and one daughter. Two of the children are out of the house and on their own, the youngest at 16 is still at home. He’s very angry with his mother.

When I joined the family my sister-in-law was considered one of the fun ones. She always seemed happy and in a good mood. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 7. 4 boys and 3 girls. She was married twice. The first ended in divorce. Her second husband died a few years ago from H.I.V.

It is hard to understand how our demons will affect us and what sets them off. We all have them but most of us are able to keep them hidden and under control. Since her second husbands death it seems her demons had the upper hand. She comes from a family of drinkers but she had never seemed to drink to excess. I would have thought she was only a social drinker and don’t believe I ever saw her drunk. Over the last few years we started hearing stories of her being drunk early in the morning and of drinking till she passed out. Certainly not behavior I would have expected.

When we start looking back we will notice some of the tell tale signs. She had distanced herself from her family. I saw it as her being busy with her own life but now I have to wonder. At the time of her death she was again enrolled in a program to help her with her drinking problem. She had been through at least one other program a few years ago and she had high hopes for this program.

Ultimately her problem was probably the demon depression which manifested itself in drinking.

Life is so precious and so fragile.

The economy and Rural Michigan

It is bad. The news tells us of the big problems, the automakers, the banks, the housing market, and they, so far, have ignored the small towns. Well, I’m here to tell you they are hurting.

Our business is in the business of serving the other businesses in our area. We see layoffs, strikes, closures, and slowdowns. Opportunities are drying up and people are holding their breath and wishing for the best. I have never seen other businesses as scared as they are now. People have stopped hiring and they are paring their staffs to essential people.

Our area is also a tourist area and we depend on those visitors to bring needed revenue to our area. The second vacation homes along with  the weekend visits keep many of our people working year around. When things dry up in the cities the discretionary money usually spent in our area dries up as well.

It is February, and February is the worst month of the year for our area even in boom times. Time will tell what the Summer months will bring. I know the factories are hurting and do not see a quick turn around. They will continue to struggle. Our tourist season still gives us hope. Sometimes when times are rough our location helps us attract more tourists. It is a cheap vacation from Lower Michigan and the surrounding states. It is fun and away from home and the costs are less than a trip across the country.

As an entrepeneur I will always have hope. If that isn’t in the definition of an entrepeneur it sure as hell should be. I know I’m still scared but hope will keep me working as hard as I can to succeed. Our business has always shown an ability to change with the times. I have hope the needed changes can be made on a national level to keep things from getting worse. As a nation we have had our head stuck in the sand for years. Change is not only needed it is imperative for the nation to survive. Obama seems to realize this but bi-partisan statemanship is not something we seem to be good at anymore.