
Second thought! Just in case. YOU or someone you personally know may fit the following picture of success which may carry too much risk for comfort.
You can sit back and simply enjoy the day. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Can't you just hear it? I've got my money "salted" away in a safe place. Getting great returns. No risk! Where? I'm invested in the dot.com firms of the future..... remember the bubble that burst?
YOUR BUSINESS
Obviously, you get the point. There is little need to bash the dot.com failures. Our goal is YOUR business. Your future expansions for growth.
EXPERIENCE is an expensive teacher. There are BETTER resources. Some of us have learned in the School of Hard Knocks. At least YOU can benefit by knowing some of our mistakes which we freely expose for your perusal.
Yes, most of our mistakes were NOT smart. Could have been easily corrected. Most 'goofs' are so obvious AFTER the fact it's embarassing to tell anyone.
DIVERSITY Is KEY --
Is that just a nice "sounding" word? Only to those who FAIL to understand it's HUGE impact. SUDDENLY! Almost an Overnight kick.... your financial well being can be GONE.
Many of us have been there. All of our business LINKED to ONE account. Are you in that position now? I hear you loud and clear. You are saying, "I'm making good money and business is great. Why should I change?"
If that is the case, YOU are NOT in control. Unless you have a service or product without equal or competition, YOU are at risk. Simply ask... if my ONE customer or my major customer GOES AWAY tomorrow... what happens to my business?
Are your equipment debts personally guaranteed? Is your home at risk? Do you have a long-term office/warehouse lease? Bank loans?
OUR EXPERIENCE
Yes, I was fortunate and survived. At the time, I had several businesses not dependent on each other. Regardless,the impact and surprise income loss was real.
For 10 years it was wonderful. Profits were basically guaranteed. A major Insurance company needed "outside" typists. Large companies do strange things. Head-count! Move staff (human resource) cost to "service" overhead expense.
Situations change! Buyers of services RETIRE. Management gets promoted to a new location. Offices consolidate. DOWNsize. UPsize. Go out of business! Bankrupt yet still oweing you money that will never come.
Most of the above happened! Our "connection" moved. I had no idea the company was going to suddenly NO LONGER need our services.
It's happening around us every day. Technology! Yesterday is gone -- history. New ways of doing business. Automation. Push-button society. Home based workers.
In a FLASH! ONE day! Our business (95%) was gone. We had NO warning at all before the doors shut in our face.
WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?
To capsule, we were able to use the equipment in our other businesses. Our lease on the space had NOT been renewed. Our own staff was transferred within. We lucked out!!
However, I "shudder" to think of the consequences that could have forced most folks out of business.
Had we signed another 5-year lease, the cost would have exceeded our PROFIT for the prior 10 years.
Equipment leases would still hang over our heads. Staff? Their jobs would have been gone in a flash.
YOUR CHALLENGE
Step back and look carefully at your business risks. Don't assume anything. Your "good old" boy network has NO guarantees.
Make DIVERSITY your #1 priority in 2005. Add new clients. Add new products. Quickly reduce your RISK away from any controlling entity. Seek to make 10% a TOP line maximum dependence on any one source of income.
Large buyers have been known to absorb ALL of a major manufacturer's production. As an astute business executive, YOU can see the END in sight. Don't let it happen.
Your customer now CONTROLS your business. Profits are no longer your decision. Expect the "squeeze" to intensify!
Too often, we can't see the forest for the trees. Same experience happens to a small service business, too.
ACTION TIP: Best advice is simple. DIVERSIFY! Never allow ONE client to OWN your business. 10% is a good MAXIMUM for any single buyer. Reduce YOUR risk. Add new clients or new products as quickly as possible.
Don Monteith spent 32 years in the Staffing Business. His firm placed thousands of job candidates in their dream job. Today, he shares his expertise. Learn more by visiting his website at: http://www.HowToGetYourDreamJob.com
AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.
AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.
AP - Democrats are ushering in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination in the workplace.
AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.
AP - Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a practice the federal government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has left unregulated.
AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.
AP - Just minutes after George W. Bush took the oath of office eight years ago, he signed papers formally nominating 13 Cabinet-level officials. Several hours later, the Senate, meeting in a special Saturday session, confirmed seven Cabinet secretaries, including the heads of the key posts at State, Treasury and Defense.
AP - Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama's nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February. But already it is plain that a set of serious fissures need to be bridged if the bill is to be completed within five weeks.
AP - The game defied expectations. Tim Tebow fulfilled them. He rescued No. 1 Florida, running through and throwing over No. 2 Oklahoma for a 24-14 victory Thursday night that gave the Gators their second BCS championship in three years.
Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.
Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Reuters - Europe sought a swift restoration of gas supplies on Friday after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a pricing dispute with Kiev.
Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.
Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.
AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.
AFP - European states deprived of Russian gas amid freezing weather were Friday hoping for a resumption of deliveries after the European Union claimed a breakthrough in the crisis between Moscow and Kiev.
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