Personal Success – For Life and Business (Part 6-7)

Meaningful Goals and Objectives

If you are not making the progress you expect personally, then most likely, your goals have not been clearly defined and properly visualized. Clearly defined goals are the keys to fulfillment and achievement. They are essential for success. The English author, Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, wrote: “The man who succeeds above his fellows is the one who early in life clearly discerns his object and towards that object habitually directs his powers. Even genius itself is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose. Every man who observes vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius.”

The benefits of setting goals are neither mystical or hazy. There are real and significant values to be gained from practicing goal-setting:

1. Goal-setting improves your self image improving you today for a better tomorrow.
2. Goal-setting makes you aware of your strengths which can help you to overcome obstacles.
3. Goal-setting makes you aware of your weaknesses. Through awareness, you can set new goals to improve in those areas.
4. Goal-setting gives you a sense of past victories which provides stimulus for present and future success.
5. Written goals help you visualize, actionize and then actualize.
6. Goal-setting gives you a track on which to run.
7. Goal-setting forces you to set priorities and direction. It forces you to crystallize your thinking.
8. Goal-setting separates reality from wishful thinking.
9. Goal-setting forces you to define and establish in concrete form your system of values and to take responsibility.
10. Goals provide criteria to sharpen decision-making. If the criteria have (has) not been defined, decisions get made in terms of immediate pressures.

Generally, experts have agreed that failure in life results from a lack of clearly defined purpose. Success in life does not result from chance, rather, a succession of successful days. The starting point for anybody is personal program of goals.

Self-Actualization

Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true and it must follow as the night the day thou canst be false to any man.” There is that still, small voice in each of us that makes it clear we are on the track to self-actualization or derailed.

As a child we come to the world all lit up and then we unplug ourselves from the Source, from God, ultimately resulting in the light going out.

To see and experience our own light, our inner strength, direction, and wisdom, we need to plug ourselves back into our Source. We need to learn to be still and get away from the noise, static and extraneous thoughts of our external world. All we have to do is go inside and have a willingness to listen as He is waiting to help and assist us. But we must listen with our hearts.

Ultimately He is the conductor who keeps us on track as we travel the journey of personal success, who says “you had a productive day, week, month and year.” He does not deceive or misguide when we learn to listen.

By beginning with the end in mind, and listening to your heart, self-actualization, i.e., being all that you can be, becomes a lifestyle. The journey then becomes endless and delightful.

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

We at DetroitBusinessLaw.com hope that this series has been helpful to you personally.  We cannot be truly successful in business unless we are personally successful.

Personal Success – For Life and Business (Part 5)

Financial Independence

There are universal laws of compensation. Perhaps the most recognizable of all is “As ye sow, so also shall ye reap”. In the spiritual sense, it is important to remember that we all have everything that we need right now and always.

Giving without the expectation of getting enhances the harvest. Going the extra mile or providing service beyond that which is being paid for puts you on the correct path. These are universal truths that lead us to financial independence.

Making a commitment to do what it takes and being willing to pay the price leads to financial independence. Living by the age-old adage, “waste not, want not” enhances it.

Some of you will be shocked by the following statement, but did you know it is perfectly legal to be out of debt? THAT’S RIGHT! Apparently, however, many of us have been sold on the “borrow your way to wealth” concept. The concept is ludicrous, just look at the housing market as an example.

Although there is a way leverage can contribute to your financial independence, it must be used judiciously.

Finishing the series up tomorrow, we will touch on Meaningful Goals and Objectives and Self Actualization.

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Personal Success – For Life and Business (Part 3 & 4)

Physical Health

Physical health creates energy, adds quality and years to your life. Although most look at financial independence as the end-all, recognize that whether your W-2 shows $50,000 or $150,000, it doesn’t make you any happier.

On the other hand, your quality of life will certainly suffer from inattention to bodily needs. No one would argue with the fact that system abuse will shorten your life.

Recognizing that certain “pressures” exist for all of us to succeed, remember that “success” without physical health will leave you a physical (and emotional) wreck. Reasons as to how we got this way are unimportant. A commitment to physical well-being and the positive results it brings must be the focus.  Complete personal success demands physical well-being.

Complete and Long-Term Loving Relationships

“No man is an island,” that adage reads, which I think expresses the importance of relationships. Ask yourself the question, “Who or what is the most important thing in the world to me?” Think about it if necessary, reflect: is it the money, the car, the house in Palm Springs? If your answer is yes, think again.

Most of us have been brought up in an environment that has strongly suggested that success in life depends on how hard we work to get all the things on which our culture tends to put a high value. Yet, our human desires never seem to be sated. Our “personality” self always wants more.

HOLD IT! Forget the acquisition of what I call “stuff”. Know your motivations and most importantly, begin with the end in mind. When you “get there” and there is no one with whom to “share the wealth” your success will be short-lived.

Recognize it’s the people, not the stuff that is of consequence.

Up next, Financial Independence.  Watch for it tonight around 6pm!

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Personal Success – For Life and Business (Part 2)

Peace of Mind

We come into the world with only two fears; fear of falling and fear of loud noises. Fears we add to our psyche are learned habits. Most additions are based on perceptions which stem from our belief system and are created by life experiences. In other words, our belief system is based on past experiences which are constantly being relived in the present with anticipation of the future being like the past. We actually project these beliefs onto others.

Once we understand that what we perceive through our physical senses presents us with a limited and distorted view of reality, that is, we recognize our perception is a mirror, not a fact, we begin to take responsibility for every thought and experience. Clearly, our thoughts regarding other people create either a union with or separation from that individual. To successfully eliminate fear, anger and guilt (self-directed anger) in our interactions we must consciously ask “do our thoughts bring about union or separation?” Separation is created in peace of mind lost by blaming or making another person wrong and yourself right. The lesson here: there is no one to blame.

If peace of mind is our only goal, then at every encounter we must ask:

1. Do I want to be happy or do I want to be right?
2. Can I be happy blaming and making another person wrong and myself right?
3. Do I want to experience peace or do I want to experience conflict?

There is a smooth way that things tend to operate in nature. Observing a world that is not reacting to one’s interference, harmonizing through understanding guarantees peace of mind.

Up next at 2pm, Physical Health and Loving relationships.

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Personal Success – For Life and Business (Part 1)

While moving recently I came upon two different tape programs I had listened to years ago entitled: “The Psychology of Achievement” by Brian Tracy and “Creating Positive Relationships” by Diane Cirincione and Gerald Jampolsku, M.D. Both deal with personal success and are worth revisiting here. I have taken the liberty to paraphrase some of the comments from each.

Although there are a number of definitions of success, the one I like best is what you accomplish relative to your potential. Or, as the U.S. Army jingle goes, “be all that you can be…”

More to the point, personal success means:

• Peace of mind, i.e., freedom from fear, anger and guilt.
• Physical health
• Complete and long-term loving relationships
• Financial independence
• Meaningful goals and objectives
• Self actualization, i.e., knowing you are being all that you can be.

Let’s explore each, one at a time over the next few days.  First up tomorrow morning, Peace of Mind…

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Cash is King!

If you’re always busy servicing clients or customers but you don’t have any money in the bank, there’s probably some place you haven’t looked for cash – your Accounts Receivable. If you don’t have a system in place which allows you to capture your billings and collections activity, regardless of how many clients or customers you service, you are at their whim when it comes to getting paid for services rendered or products sold. As a matter of fact, you’re probably playing bank to significantly more clients or customers for significantly more dollars than you can imagine. The first step toward improving collections is to analyze your Accounts Receivable using some objective standard of measurement.

Whether you have a one man operation, or you’re staffed with many associates, if you extend credit, you need a practical, workable system for keeping track of how much money you’re owed. Beyond that, you need specific procedures for keeping track of when the clients or customers are supposed to pay you, and if they go past a due date, you need a system of follow-up procedures to gain commitments to ensure payment from those people who owe you money.

How can you tell if they owe you money, if so, how much, and how long they have owed it to you? By producing an Accounts Receivable Aging Report monthly at a minimum but having it updated during the month is even better. Quite simply, the Aging analysis includes accounts receivable balances by client or customer, broken into age category. “Age” is the period of time an amount has been owed to you, and is usually expressed in days: 0-30 days old; 61-90 days, etc. A June bill, if unpaid at the end of June, would be in the 0-30 days or “Current” category. A May bill, if unpaid at the end of June, would be put in the 31-60 day category. Similarly, an unpaid April bill would go in the 61-90 day category of a June report, etc. The Aging Report should show total billings as well as the detail or Aging by client or customer. Ideally it also includes date of last payment and amount paid. All contact information should also be captured here to create efficient follow-up.

The system need be no more complicated than this to enable you to “dial for dollars.” Any basic software package will provide this and more. The software must simply enable you to capture billings, payments on account, billing adjustments, ending balances and the ability to track aging. This information and as importantly, consistent follow-up procedures which include telephone calls and a series of collection letters, is all you need to keep cash flowing.

The keys to successful collection are persistence and commitment. You must gain commitments form each client or customer as to when you will receive payment and how much you will be paid. If you don’t receive payment by the promised date – call back that day – don’t wait even 24 hours! If clients or customers think they can put you off they will – but only if you let them.

If you don’t want to make Accounts Receivable calls, delegate the responsibility to someone in your office – and make it your job to see that that person manages the billing and collection procedures.

Remember the longer you wait in your pursuit of balances, the less chance you have of collecting what is due on accounts. More to the point, the longer the balances are outstanding the less likely it is that you will collect them and the amount collected will continue to diminish with age.

There are four steps to successful cash management:

1. Provide a quality service or product.
2. Bill it TIMELY.
3. Collect it.
4. Hang onto the cash as long as possible.

Inadequate collection policies and procedures may result in cash flow problems, collections of only a fraction of the original billings and a rapid deterioration of your business. This can be avoided by developing the procedures and the habits outlined above. Develop a system of letters and phone calls, and stick to it. Your clients or customers will learn what to expect from you and will respond to and established plan of action. Remember “Cash is King!”

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Be honest; how do you feel about the way you used your time today?

Looking at the headline, you might say, “My day was very productive! I’m very organized. I accomplished everything I set out to do!”

If you truly operate that way, then you’re in the minority. Most people become frustrated with days that aren’t as productive as originally intended. Put simply, we would prefer to get more done.

The purpose of this article is to identify America’s Top 10 Time Waters. They may not match your list exactly, but we trust many items on the list are also common with you.

Crisis Management - Ever feel that you’re leaving a trail of unfinished projects, unreturned phone calls, unread e mail, partially completed reports? Sometimes crises are imposed by others; boss, clients etc.

More often, crises arise from a job we left unfinished to work on another unfinished task. Another term for crisis management is “fire fighting.” Even more insidious is the crisis caused by failing to make a decision or take an action that would have prevented the crisis in the first place. Most of this is really caused by losing focus of the true priorities. We must learn to tell the difference between “urgent” and “important”.

The Telephone – We spend about 2.5 hours each day on the phone, averaging 12-14 calls a day. About 20 percent of that time on the phone is wasted. Common culprits are wandering phone calls, forgetting some of the important issues, or calling every time we think of the next topic.

On average, an unplanned phone call takes five minutes longer than one that has been planned. Planning a phone call can be as easy as a 30 second outline of what you want to say – That is, list the questions that you want to ask and the points you want to make. Without those few seconds of planning, you’re costing your company an hour a day. Don’t be afraid to say “Hey, John, I’d love to hear more about that project, but I’ve got to get to a meeting. Can you get to the point, or should we talk about it alter?”

Lack of Priorities - We accomplish the most when we know exactly what we want to accomplish. Unfortunately, too many think goals and objectives are yearly items and not daily considerations. The results are the days spent majoring in the minors. Plan your day.

Try to do too Much - Many of today’s high performers seem to have a common thread: The “Superman/Superwoman” ideal; -i.e., taking on everything and trying to get it done by tomorrow. Success or failure seems to be measured by the state of busyness. We know that we can’t do justice to everything at once and we often don’t have perspective of all we have going on. Focus on what counts.

Drop-In Visitors - The five deadliest words in today’s office are “Do you have a minute?” Everyone’s the culprit, colleagues, clients, family, friends, superiors, subordinates…. they all want a piece of you! Close your door and put a do not disturb sign on it, work at home, hide, or just say “No.”

Ineffective Delegation – Good delegation is a key skill for managers, yet the average manager spends 45 percent of their time on tasks that could be done by a staffer. “I can do it better and faster.” you say. Sure you can, but ultimately, you are judged on what you can cause to happen, not just what you can do on your own. As a general rule of thumb, in non-critical cases, if another person can accomplish a task 80 percent as well as you, delegate.

The Messy Desk – Do you have “desk stress?” Is your desk or credenza piled with pending and unfinished work? The average Businessperson spends three hours each week looking for things plus two hours being distracted by the stuff lying around. Do you still use the “archaeological dig” method of filing? Does your peripheral vision keep everything in mind, causing constant distractions? Are you always saying “I know it’s here somewhere!” Put it away, file it, delegate it or trash it. The most effective people work from a clean desk.

Procrastination – The big “P” the “thief of time,” is not decision making but decision avoidance. “I’ll take care of it when I get around to it.” The average employee spends 45 days a year procrastinating; stalling, holding on to projects, redoing reports, putting it off till a better time. There’s even a Procrastinators club. Their newsletter is called “last month’s newsletter.” By reducing procrastination, you can substantially increase the available time in your day. Do it now!

Inability to Say NO! – What a unique idea! Those around your will give you all the work you are willing to take. This is true in both our business and personal lives. Some of the most stressed people around can’t say no to the next fund-raiser, the next committee, the Little League, the church, etc., etc. Politely, but firmly say “No.”

Meetings - The typical manager spends 17 hours each week in meetings, plus 6.3 hours getting ready for those meetings. Nearly a third of that time in meetings is wasted. That works out to be about six full weeks of your year useless meeting time. You’ve seen the symptoms: hastily called meetings, no ending time stated, no agenda, no officially record of what was done or said, no follow-up. If even one hour per week is saved, it could mean two additional effective work days per year! Decide in advance how much time you’ll spend on a business meeting. Let the others know exactly how much time you have available. That way people condense their points, and you get to that good stuff faster. The 8/20 rule certainly applies here: 20 percent of the information can give you at least 80 percent of what you really need to know. At the end of the meeting, suggest having each member’s thoughts on the meeting. The nuggets of wisdom that emerge can be helpful.

The paradox of time is that if we slow down to think and plan, we’ll have more time. By paying attention to your time wasters, you just may “find” and extra four or five hours per week to enjoy the things most important to you.

It’s your life. Don’t waste it.

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Handling Customer Complaints

I don’t know about you but one of my favorite (Ha Ha) tasks as a business owner is handling customer complaints . Of course never having had the problem personally, I can only speak from my clients experiences (Right! The size of my nose at this point is second only to Pinocchio’s). In reality complaints will occur no matter how competent we are in delivering products and services because as the adage goes “You can’t keep all of the people happy all of the time.”

Most business owners run in the opposite direction when they get word of a disgruntled customer. This is a common but counterproductive response to a real problem. What happens when you ignore a customer complaint? Does it go away? It may, but generally so does the customer. Ignoring complaints causes them to fester and does far more damage than if handled head on.

Consider the following:

• A survey found 68 percent of the customers left because of a perceived attitude of indifference toward them by the owner, manager or some other employee. Proper complaint handling can salvage these customers.
• A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about his problem. One in five will tell twenty. Generally it’s the unhappy customers who talk.
• Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. On average a customer whose complaint was satisfied will tell five people about the problem and how it was satisfactorily resolved.
• The average business owner spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep the old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth ten times the price of a single purchase.

As business owners we need a process which enables us to handle customer complaints and keep old customers. I propose the following 6 step approach to handling customer complaints:

Step 1: Confront it. No this doesn’t mean be adversarial. Remember, never burn a bridge. Give the customer an opportunity to spill their guts. A simple open probe like “What seems to be the problem?” generally will cause the customer to vent. Even those of us whose throats tighten, palms sweat and hearts pound at the thought of dealing with an irate customer should be able to get that out. By listening to what the customer has to say, you’ll be armed with the information you need to investigate the complaint and correct it at the source.

Step 2: Knowing that a customer with a complaint is likely to hold back, a follow up question is necessary. After they’ve spilled their guts say something like “In addition to that is there anything else?” In response to your question in Step #1 the customer did the initial purging. However, may not have divulged all. This question following on the heels of “What seems to be the problem?” will give the customer the opportunity to delineate any remaining objections. At this point the situation should be diffused. Now we are able to move forward in a positive sense.

Step 3: Restate the problem. You need an accurate restatement to demonstrate to the customer you’ve listened and understand. To effectively restate you must take detailed notes. Nothing is more annoying to customers than to have to repeat their complaint several times. Reflecting on personal experiences, when did you feel good about the way a complaint of yours was handled? More than likely it was when the listening party could clearly restate the facts. Further, complaint restatement demonstrates understanding. If your restatement is inaccurate because you misunderstood you’ll have a chance to clarify.

Step 4: Propose a solution. You’ve diffused the situation, surfaced all of the objections and communicated you’ve listened and understand the customer. You’re prepared to propose a fix. Any fix offered prior to this point would have been premature. Steps 1-3 should have told you what the customer wants, if not, ask and offer a solution in a positive, constructive fashion.

Step 5: Offer an extra. To remove the last trace of ill will, offer and extra service. The extra doesn’t have to be significant in value. To illustrate, several years ago I contracted to have the interior of our offices painted. The owner, whom I met with several times, was a competent young business person. I encountered a problem because he had packed his bags for Hawaii and left his paint sniffing crew behind to screw up the job. When the owner got back in town, we met, and he began to take me through Steps 1-4 above and offered to paint the hallway to the second level at no extra cost. Now we’re talking about $75 extra, no big deal, but I felt good about it and that’s what matters. By offering an extra the next time the customer buys they will remember your generosity instead of the complaint.

Step 6: Make a follow-up call to ensure satisfaction. When appropriate, call the customer back to guarantee satisfaction. This will do two things. First, it will verify the problem has been taken care of. And second, it will leave a positive final impression about your desire to provide excellent service. Right or wrong, customers will remember their last contact with you most vividly.

Some would argue that what comes with personal success is a level of peace of mind. It has always been a goal of mine to find some level of peace, even if negotiated, as it’s a lot more rewarding than conflict. If we agree that peace of mind in every encounter is a productive way to do business then I suggest the following questions as something to lead us in all of our encounters (business and personal):

1. Do I want to be happy or do I want to be right?
2. Can I be happy blaming and making another person wrong and myself right?
3. Do I want to experience peace or do I want to experience conflict?

In handling customer complaints you may desire to be right, blame the customer and fight back, however, this would be a mistake if the objective is to retain the old customer.

Although it may not be the most enjoyable hat we wear as business owners successful complaint handling has many advantages. First, it points to areas that need improvement. Second, it gives you a second chance to provide service and satisfaction to dissatisfied customers. And third, it provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen customer relations. How bad can it be?

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

History Repeats Itself

I contributed a column to a newsletter in March of 1992 which was headed as “Straight Talk from Gary Field, CPA.” The column started out as follows;

“Last year, General Motors (GM) lost $7 billion in North America. Management’s long overdue response: close the Willow Run plant and others. The UAW leadership’s response to the Willow Run closing: belligerence and inflexibility. GM, the UAW, and all of us business owners need to get the message: the market has a way of sifting out the weak, the lazy and the uninspired.”

The column continued;

“Allegedly, GM has a long – term rebound plan on the table, but I have to wonder. Without responsible leadership at both GM and the UAW, the plan is meaningless. The leadership from GM and the other “Big Three” recently made fools of themselves with their incessant whining about Japanese competition. Is this responsible management? The UAW and its membership’s Japan bashing and position regarding Willow Run are equally irresponsible. Until GM and the UAW assume responsibility for their poor management, they can forget the “rebound plan”, its not going to happen”

I hate to say it but as the adage goes “the rest is history.”

As business owners, we must vow to build our companies on a foundation of responsible employees. We must understand that there are only two types of employees: those who produce reasons (irresponsible) and those who produce results (responsible.) Your job is to identify, hire, train and retain those who recognize that they are the cause that creates the effect. An “it’s not my responsibility” mentality is a prescription for disaster. Witness the current state of the auto industry.

By making good hiring decisions, our employee base is composed of people who understand the importance of responsibility, integrity, purpose, excellence, self development, service and cooperation; a base of people who are of the right character and interested in creating. With a well thought-out hiring process employers can make good, sound hiring decisions and avoid employing a “union mentality” such as that spawned by the luxury of a labor monopoly the UAW once had.

Despite an excellent hiring process, however, occasional bad hiring decisions are inevitable. They can only be minimized. Nevertheless, with a foundation of responsible people, an irresponsible person inadvertently hired cannot

survive for long. Responsible people connected to the “success principles” will purge their ranks of people that are not like – minded.

Perhaps some readers will think that I’m kicking the auto industry when it’s down. Quite frankly, I don’t care. They are a clear and timely indicator of what one can expect from bad management. Certainly, an unwillingness to assume responsibility isn’t limited to the auto industry. I am equally appalled at the teachers that don’t teach and public servants who don’t serve.

The list goes on, but that’s not the point. The point is that success can only be attained after a solid foundation of principles have been laid down and adhered to. Attempting to build a business without the base of principles would be like straightening the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

So, now hear this. Like the game we all played as kids, “tag, you’re it!” Now what are you going to do about it?

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.

Do you have “Rhythm”?

In her article “Do you have “Rhythm”?” Donna Hover, CEO Advisor, addresses that there are three fundamental habits that companies must develop. The article does an excellent job of articulating the significance to a business of 1) establishing priorities or the importance of putting “First things First” as Steven Covey advises; 2) creating team “rhythm” through increased frequency of meetings; and 3) the importance of using data in making decisions for your organization.

What I like about Donna’s writing style in this article is that it focuses on practical “Tune-up” tools as she calls them rather than get lost in the esoteric.

Click here to download a PDF of Donna’s Article

To get more info on Donna’s Company Click here

This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.