November 2007 - Posts
Lately, the holiday frenzy has made me a consumeraholic.
It’s been all about shopping and piling onto my workload so I can make more money to shop more. Got to jam pack the bottom of that Christmas tree. No?
But earlier this week I got to thinking about all the people out there who are struggling after I heard a piece on the radio about how homeless shelters and pantries were thin this year on donations.
I called a local homeless mission before Thanksgiving to find out if they needed anything and was shocked to hear they still needed turkeys to give to families. If anything I figured they had enough turkeys by now.
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When we think of entrepreneurs and business leaders we typically think about people who are savvy and smart. They have everything going for them and probably have never faced any type of adversity, especially not brain disorders.
Well, think again.
I’ve interviewed many CEOs over the years for big and small firm and there were quite a few of them that had stories to tell about learning disabilities that plagued them since youth.
So, I wasn’t surprised when a study came across my desk about how 35 percent of U.S. entrepreneurs have dyslexia.
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Who’s thinking about work this week?
Come on, admit it. You’re thinking about that fat turkey and stuffing; not whether you’ll be able to make deadlines or secure that big deal.
It’s just a reality of the workplace, especially during this time of year. Getting motivated to do work is close to impossible. Indeed, lots of small business owners cut their losses and send people home early when they realize they have bodies in their midst but no real worker bees.
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| Kevin Sanchez / Getty Images file |
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There’s been a rash of high profile departures by top dogs at the nation’s largest corporations.
No one is immune. Take the once celebrated Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal. He was pushed out of his job because he made a host or risky moves that led to big losses at the firm.
It got me thinking about small business owners and how they decide when it’s time to hand over the reins. It happens folks. A company gets too big, or the owner just can’t handle day to day operations because of personal issues.
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| Joe Raedle / Getty Images |
| Former Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal |
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It’s getting less worth it for me to drive to business meetings in New York from my home in Wilmington, Delaware. Amtrak has been seeing a lot of me lately.
And it’s been freezing in my home office because I refuse to turn up the heat. I don’t care if the dog is shivering.
I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been trying to change my habits to deal with rising energy prices. Not that it’s making much of a difference.
No matter how hard small business owners try, it’s typically not enough to offset being gouged at the pump or by utilities, or the rise in vendor prices, caused by higher fuel costs. The increases inevitably lead to a big bite out of the bottom line.
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| Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images |
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Cookie dough in a plastic bucket anyone?
There’s nothing that gets under my skin more than those school fundraisers my kids bring home selling a host of processed foods you wouldn’t want your dog to eat. Not to mention all the poorly made little trinkets hawked in these catalogs you’ll use once and then they’ll end up on the growing trash heap we’re going to have to jettison to the moon some day.
That’s why I was happy to read about a company that just made a new list of top 100 home-based businesses that’s helping schools and nonprofits raise funds by selling environmentally friendly products.
Green Raising, a small firm located in Agoura Hills, California, is one of ten small businesses named as the greenest home-based firms in the country by StartupNation.
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Warning to all small business owners: Get ready for an avalance of credit card offers.
There’s a movement afoot to get small business owners to buy more stuff on credit.
Since credit card companies have all but tapped out the consumer market by getting many of them to sit back in a thick recliner of debt, they are now turning their attentions to you guys.
Run! Run the other way.
Consumers are swimming in debt. Let’s not push small business owners into the pool any further.
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| Getty Images file |
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There’s just no place for people who enjoy a good smoke.
Corporations are trying everything they can to get people to kick the habit already.
They’re offering workers cessation programs, drugs to help fight the urge, and even refusing to hire people if they admit to having a ciggy butt now and then.
But, there may be one last safe haven for die-hard smokers everywhere: Small businesses.
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| Angela Rowlings / AP file |
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