Posts from October 2009
Posted by George Cloutier on 10/29/09 | (0) Comments
Bread gets stale and milk goes sour. So does an employee’s performance. The biggest mistake owners make is trying to rehab employees. Forget it. Identify the prospects who want to perform and can contribute to your bottom line. You may have to hire five to get one, but it’s worth it. Owners agonize for days and weeks over layoffs for any reason. Fire first and agonize later, because every day you wait can cost your hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run.
This is your opportunity to get out there and find a star performer who can bring up sales or find a hundred little ways to cut costs. Everyone’s expendable, and there’s always someone out there more qualified for a position and more eager for the chance to excel.
Posted by George Cloutier on 10/27/09 | (0) Comments
You’ve got to be a tyrant. Owning a small business isn’t a popularity contest. You cannot be effective as the owner of a business unless you are feared and respected by your employees. There’s no point in managing by the numbers or having a precise operational plan for profits unless you are willing to enforce, enforce, enforce.
Posted by George Cloutier on 10/25/09 | (0) Comments
When you’re retired, wealthy, and able to spend time raising funds for the poorest members of your congregation; when you’ve built a new parochial school for the children of Botswana; when you have the operational, fingertip controls in place so that you can spend the majority of your time with your kids and grandkids at your winter home in Hilton Head, you’ll be glad you gave up a few Sunday afternoons to work your butt off. You’ll be pleased that you devoted more time to that other religion: profits.
Posted by George Cloutier on 10/22/09 | (1) Comments
Get your behind to the office. That’s where you need to be. Your family will still be there when you get home. Weekends are the perfect time to get work done. The phone’s not ringing. There are no distractions. People aren’t wandering past your office. The emails aren’t overloading your in box. It can be your post productive time of the week, particularly for backend housekeeping and financials. Hell, have your accountant come in and go over the books with you. Buy her coffee. If she says she can’t make it, find another bookkeeper!
Posted by George Cloutier on 10/19/09 | (0) Comments
Forget the firearms. Try to avoid threats of bodily harm. But always remember: YOU are the boss, so act like one. It’s not your job to dispense praise, affirmation, hugs, and cookies to your staff. They have to respect you, not like you. Wanting to be liked is perceived as weakness. Your employees will walk all over you. Let them know that you are going to hold them accountable for their actions. Be in control and be controlling. It’s better to drive your employees nuts than to lose money.
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