1. Price trumps all.

Price is important. With that said it is still not the number one factor when people chose to do business. If you can show me why spending a little extra now will save me in the future, you better believe I am buying. This is the same reason I spent an additional $100 more than needed on a fishing rod that has a lifetime no fault warranty vs. the other pole that I would have to replace if I broke it. The problem here is most companies do a good job of telling why vs. educating why.

2. It’s always cheaper to fix it myself.

I don’t think this needs and explanation. If so ask the lady in your life.

3.  Bulk is better!

We all fall into this trap because “it’s a better deal.” If you could save $100 each work day for a year you would end up with roughly $32,000.

4. Spending time on risk management costs too much money, energy, and time.

This is a belief by those who will no longer be in business in the next 2-3 years, and they will do it to themselves.

5.  I don’t see much opportunity in today’s economy.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Think outside the box work hard, and remember its not what you do but how you do it.

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

When leads for strong job candidates turn cold, it can be a challenge just to find people to call and interview. One national firm had developed an innovative strategy to overcome this problem and it has resulted in some of the best talent hired to date. Each month every employee is emailed a list of the job openings from management to the mail room.  If an employee recommends someone who gets the job they then receive $100 – $10,000 depending on the position. Over the past year the staff has earned $3.5 million, and the program has hired 1,200 new employees. This is obviously a large scale example but could easily be duplicated on a smaller scale and have the same impact on local business today. One side benefit that was realized after the fact was an increase in employee engagement from their involvement in this process.

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

Follow the link and look at number five!

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/starting-a-business/2011/06/28/top-five-businesses-to-start-in-2011/?test=faces

“Good enough” never is.

Are you paying attention to details? Are you proud of what you are delivering? Will a small detail cause others to questions your ability?

I love looking at the craftsmanship and pride of the woodworking of years past.  It seems as though we usually don’t get that kind of attention to detail anymore and that is sad.  Why do you suppose that is?

It shows in many ways when someone is paying attention to details, especially when something goes wrong (and especially this time of year with the March Madness).  But rather than focus on that, let’s focus on the details that differentiate someone from being mediocre to being extraordinary.  It may be something that you wouldn’t even notice it if you weren’t looking (such as an employee that does video tutorials to help customers see what they are trying to do and understand it, and gives them detailed information in it) or it may be something as simple as sending a thank you note or it may be a restaurant that notices that you mentioned craving a certain dessert and insuring that you received it the next time you visited them (or even asking for your address and delivering it to you in person).  It may be the event organizer who insures that attendees have all the information they need, including location, time, where to park, and how/when it is necessary to register before you arrive, etc.  It may be the vendor or employee that actually came to the meeting prepared and it clearly shows.  It may be the vendor that gives you a graphical flow chart informing you of what to expect and when to expect it when it comes to working with them.

Ask yourself:
are there any details that you are overlooking?  What details can you attend to that will promote you (and your business) from being simply mediocre to being extraordinary?

Marc Lebaron, CLCS

How much do your employees agree or disagree with these statements.

·         I receive an appropriate amount of criticism.

·         I get adequate feedback on how well I am doing.

·         People cooperate with each other here.

·         I am not afraid to say what I think.

·         I feel free to use my judgment when a decision is needed.

·         Problems in my organization are faced openly and frankly.

·         Important decisions are made without undue delay.

·         The right people are consulted before decisions are made.

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

In most service business, the real cost of a bad client never appears on the books. The first cost is psychic. Working with the client is a toxic experience, physically and emotionally draining. It hurts morale.  Then there is the dollars of lost time spent in meetings over dealing with the client, time that could be spent doing real work for good clients. And, eventually, the bad client bad mouths you to others.

You must spot the bad client before he becomes a client. If you are expecting every client who strolls in the door, you are sowing the seeds for your own destruction. Refuse bad business and get rid of it fast.

“The Invisible Touch”

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

Follow the link to read more.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/05/10/new-insect-repellent-thousands-times-effective-deet/?test=faces

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

How vulnerable are you to your competition? More than you imagine. I can promise that your list of A clients is your competitions list of A prospects. You competitors are planning and plotting on how to take your customers away. Your vulnerability to your competitors never goes away. The problem is your not taking it serous enough. That is, until you lose one, and then it’s too late. Why don’t you spent half of what you will spend to win them back keeping them loyal.  In fact how about investing as much in your existing customers as you do trying to find new ones.

Marc LeBaron, CLCS

The unfolding tragedy in Japan has captured the attention of the world. The cascading and connected events of an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster have caused massive destruction and economic turmoil within the country (the third-largest world economy) that has been mired in a decades-long economic malaise. Like so many others, we are hoping and praying for the Japanese people that their situation will improve soon.
 
As your advisor, we wanted to share with you a few thoughts about the current state of the world and how recent events in Japan, Libya, and elsewhere are affecting the economies around the world.
 
Today, the United States and other economies throughout the world have their hands full with the evolving situations in Japan, Libya, and the Middle East. On top of that, we still have the simmering sovereign debt issues in Europe (Greece, Portugal and potentially Spain) and the upcoming economic deficit/debt crisis in the U.S. Obviously, the uncertainty and daily developments surrounding these situations are affecting the markets and causing volatility to spike.
 
We often think about risk and how it affects our clients and their financial decision making. As a result, we have been reading and discussing the book, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It is a study of how people think about events and risk. In the book, the author describes “Black Swan” events as unforeseen events that are thought to be highly improbable, but have a large—sometimes game-changing impact on our lives. It seems like our world has been hit with an unusually large number of “black swan” events over the past few years.
 
Here’s a list of events in just the past 15 years that might qualify as “black swans:”
 

The late 1990s internet bubble and resulting crash
The 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11)
The early 2000s real estate bubble and resulting crash
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting tsunami that killed over 200,000 people
The 2007-2009 Great Recession, subprime crisis, and related economic problems
The ongoing civil wars and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa
The ongoing triple tragedy in Japan
 
With today’s interconnected world and global communication system, we see these events unfold in near real-time via the 24/7 news media outlets and that amplifies their effect on our minds and outlook towards the world. As a result, we have a tendency to focus on protecting ourselves from these immediate events and often exclude other unforeseen black swan events. Whenever these black swan events occur, it’s important to remember that while we can’t predict when they will occur or what the event will be, we do know that they will happen and we try to plan for that in how we advise you and your family.
 
Thankfully, over time, though, as these situations move from crisis to closure, we would expect the world will continue its march toward economic growth in GDP productivity and that as a result markets will eventually resume their positive historical momentum. Japan’s own history of recovering from World War II gives us an example of their resilience. For example, The Wall Street Journal stated that, “…from 1950 to 1960, in the heyday of the “economic miracle” that followed World War II, Japanese stocks returned an annual average of 27% after inflation.” We’re not predicting that type of return over the next 10 years; rather, it just shows that Japan—and the world–has bounced back from severe devastation in the past.
 
We believe that as humans and particularly as Americans, we tend to “find a way to make things work out in the end”.  Therefore in spite of the pain and suffering that these tragic world events inflict upon our collective community we believe in the “CAN DO” American spirit to resolve crisis’s as we reach out to individuals who are being directly affected by these events right now.

 
Notes: S&P 500, DJ Global ex US, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.  N/A means not applicable or not available.

In his book “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon hill said in reference to the great depression “Never, in the history of America has there been so great an opportunity for practical dreamers as now exists. The six year economic collapse has reduced all men, substantially, to the same level. A new race is about to be run. The stakes represent huge fortunes which will be accumulated within the next ten years. The rules of the race have changed, because we now live in a changed world that defiantly favors the masses, those who had but little or no opportunity to win under the conditions existing during the depression, when fear paralyzed growth and development.

Today this same opportunity exists. We live in a completely different world than 5 years ago. Specific characteristics will exist within those companies that take advantage of these opportunities. It’s anybody’s game, who will win?

Marc LeBaron, CLCS