Bill The Builder

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Why am I Here? We’ve all asked the question at some point in life. What is the real purpose of life, why this or why that and what does it all mean? Certainly, every business owner has asked, why am I doing this. This is really a very relevant question to explore. The single greatest reason for small business failure is lack of vision or focus. Without clear vision it is too easy to get distracted by the less relevant. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​It is also easy to become discouraged when challenges arise.

Revelation 4:11 gives us a glimpse into the simplest answer to the purpose of life question. Put simply God has created us for His pleasure. Obviously, God takes delight in our singing and any attempt to honor or entertain Him with our worship. But like a father he is also delighted in our daily discoveries, victories, and yes, even failures. I have privileged of enjoying my grown children and my toddlers at the same time. Some of my fondest family memories are of mastering bicycle. When they started out and found themselves crashed I found delight in being there to pick them up and encouraging them to get back on. When finally caught on I would become so proud that I would call for neighbors or anyone nearby to witness the victory. Perhaps the most troubling development in my children so far was Jon’s decision to drive. Every parent must feel the same concern, and even anxiety at the thought of their baby behind the wheel of such a powerful and dangerous machine.  He did very well overall. But one afternoon he was in a hurry and sped through a “yellow” light. He was pulled over. I was delighted. Not that he was scared witless or that he may suffer great consequences but that he responded well and in the end learned from the experience. Just as a father delights in the day to day events in his children’s life, so, our heavenly father delights in our lives.

Revelation 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

When we think of our careers and businesses, I think, sometimes it is difficult to reconcile our faith with our work. I have heard so many believers testify to the miracle of employment only to complain about the same job soon after. Our job is a part of our journey here on earth and a part of our identity. Our faith and career can and should compliment one another. In reality they inseparable, especially if you actually believe God  is intricately concerned with our lives.

I said all of that to bring you to this question. What’s next? With the economic challenges, political calamity, and social changes in our nation many business have failed and nearly everyone has seen changes to their financial landscape. Some have made career changes. Others have come out of retirement. Some have downsized and others have lost homes. A few have lost faith. Unfortunately, such loss of hope is premature at least. Vision can help you weather stormy times in life and business.

During trying times we should resist the “I Quit” attitude. Of course there are times to acknowledge defeat and give up on a bad idea or idea that is out of time. Repositioning yourself is almost always an option. More than ten years ago my business was thriving as it was and we were projecting some promising growth. However, I was facing some personal challenges and family needed my laser focused attention. My business demanded full time attention. Rather than end our business venture we simply turned our focus to a clientèle and put our previous client list on the back burner. As a result I was able t make more money working few days per month by serving fewer higher paying customers. adjustment allowed me time to redefine my brand and personal mission. Given recent economic challenges and the occurring in my industry we again repositioned our business. Our new focus has been on online brand growth and serving customers in a virtual world and through information resources. In doing so I am free to build other streams of income to ensure all our eggs aren’t in one basket. A mistake I never want to make again. But, I’ll leave my sermon on multiple streams of income for another post.

Rather than give up on your dream or business how can you reposition your efforts. There are three specific ways you can re-purpose and position your business to continue regardless of demanding times.

If your business isn’t producing the profits needed to continue growing and sustain your financial needs you may need to simply restructure financially. You may be able to give up a brick mortar facility and pour more money into your virtual real estate and beef up your marketing efforts. However, if restructuring your business finances you should also your personal finances and trim the fat from both budgets. In doing so you can live more comfortably on the income from your business. Another smart financial move may be implement technology to better manage your work, information and customer communication. Instead of spending your quality time making follow up calls and responding to emails you can use automated responders and web based information management. Some businesses have improved customer service ratings while transition a large amount of customer service to self managed web based support.

A second strategy can include downsizing or upgrading the services you offer. Take a look at the clients you serve different perspectives. Can you serve them in a different way or find new clients that are willing to spend more for a less time consuming service. A plumbing service stopped serving on demand clients and shifted his business to only serve regular customers. If a call came in first question asked was, “Are you a service subscriber.” If the answer was no the caller was informed that Premium Plumbers (name changed) is a members only service provider. The subscriber packages were explained and the caller would become a member subscriber or not. The bottom line is that this plumber was tired of on demand service calls and late night calls fix plumbing or furnace issues for customers who may never call again. With the new business model customers pay in advance for maintenance service that is scheduled and greatly reduces the need for surprise service calls inconvenient breakdowns for the customer. In time the plumbing service was making more money serving fewer customers and the proprietor was spending less time making the money.

Finally, consider changing how you serve your customers. For example, we are doing fewer platform presentations and offering clients webinars, information products custom developed training resources to meet their needs. While not every business can take advantage of this approach, many can, at least, in part. An auto detailing business just wasn’t meeting the needs of the proprietor. finally decided to close the brick mortar facility and took a nine to five weekday job and offered onsite auto detailing for select customers. In doing so he was able to keep his brand alive and eventually built a sustainable business that enabled him to work only a few hours a day and make a comfortable living.

3 questions will help you focus your vision and position your business to survive tough times.

Why am I in business?

If your are simply trying supplement your income you can continue your business with less time commitment and produce additional income. If you have goals of being fully supported by your business income you will need to create a plan for growing the business in the time you have available. You may simply be in business for the pleasure of serving or meet the needs of others. Understanding why you are really in business will help you maintain balance.

Can I recover my investment?

If you have made sizable investment in resources to your business you need consider options for recovering your investment  should the business fail or need to restructure. I once owned carpet cleaning service. When we decided to close our doors we kept one of the portable commercial machines. It has paid for itself many time over. Had I sold it when the business closed I would have taken a considerable loss. You may want to continue doing business as opportunity arises to recover your investment or simply make a little extra money from time to time.

What is my obligation the business?

You may feel you have made a commitment to customersvendors or even trusted support  parties that need to be kept. I feel that some of my business is in response to God’s calling on my life. I continue these business efforts to satisfy the calling and serve those God has called me to serve.

Remember, whether your business succeeds or fails God has a purpose for your life. He may even have a purpose for this experience. In the event of success or failure give God glory and seek to learn from the experience.

Bill The Builder is available for keynotes and presentations. Your group can learn importat skills and improve performance through high quality Webinars lead by a leading facilitator. Just email for availablity: charles@charlesspeaks.com

Wow… I can’t believe that American women aren’t outraged. Women have been reduced to nothing more than the sexual play-things of men for generations. You see it everywhere, women used to promote items from car wax to now, web hosting. These ads were in poor taste at best and outrageously insult women.

If someone you know is hosting with Go Daddy you should seriously question their integrity. Why stoop to such questionable, at best, insulting, at worst,  measures to generate traffic to your business. Is Go Daddy suffering that badly? Are they that desperate for business that they define their target audience as a bunch of primate men who feel women serve only one purpose?

I know I am playing into their hands by even posting this. But I wanted to make sure I went on record as saying I am sickened by the primitive tactics Go Daddy uses in this ad campaign. I am sorry for the decades of relapse they have brought to our American society. Women~ you are brilliant, creative, and responsible assets to our society and to American business growth. To see you reduced to sexual play things is insulting to you and offensive to any truly American man with strong human value and love for the American dream which includes human equality and value, regardless of race, gender, religious views, or age.

The primitive small-minded adolescents who crafted and authorized this ad campaign are not trustworthy and have little regard to the consequences of their actions. Such disregard for American values should not be tolerated by American consumers.

Here is a man with the backbone to say it out loud, these videos are not fun, entertaining or attractive. They are a reproach the American culture.