Another Day, Another Dollar...Maybe

Some people are enjoying a holiday today while the rest of us continue working! If you own your business, my guess is you're not at home watching movies or out shopping. Owning a business is commitment to excellence that entails daily effort. And if you are putting forth that daily effort, you know what it takes to succeed.
   This morning a friend and I bemoaned the attitude in our culture that people believe they are entitled to many things without having to work for them. Whether that includes employment, housing, medical care, material goods and services or respect, we discussed the trend in dismissing doing actual work for what you need or want.
   Before you write us off as curmudgeons, think about what you have seen in the news or television programs, advertising, group association literature and overheard conversations in public. People seem to be enraged if they don't get what other people have. Somehow the idea that life is not fair doesn't occur to them. Hmph. When was life ever fair?
   Our current political climate fosters this nonsense when people want to complain because a candidate has personal wealth, obtained, mind you, by working every day. We have leaders who want us to be jealous of our neighbors, friends and family members; leaders who think starting a class warfare argument is the way to be successful. You know it's wrong and so do I .
  Do yourself and the rest of us a favor: the next time someone wants to rant about what they lack or someone else has earned by working, stand up for the value of honest work and saving your money. You owe yourself and your family the opportunity to live in a country where we still honor these values.
Have a terrific day!
Patricia

Your Business’s Digital Future

   Just when you thought it was safe to coast on your Facebook fan page laurels new dangers to complacency are lurking around the corner. Let’s just say you don’t have to get worried, but you should be prepared to rethink everything you know about your public image.

   If you haven’t established a viable presence on the Internet, you won’t be left behind. It might behoove you to get started soon, however, just so you can join in the fun! In the December 3, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal an interview with David Gelernter, a Yale professor, mapped out a road to our digital futures. Things look very, very bright down that road.

   Gelernter, infamous for his near-murder by the Unabomber years ago, writes about how the Internet, a clumsy vehicle at best in its current form, should become more elegant, rational in application and use, and useful to us who traipse around on the Web. The man has a vision of a system that makes sense to users.

   He sees us organizing things into what he terms “lifestreams,’ which we would recognize in Twitter. We could put things together in an elegant way to serve our needs. Facebook does this in a crude manner now, although it is refining its system constantly. We could keep all our “things” together in one place instead of the hodge-podge mess we struggle with now.

   How could this work for your business? Well, think about having the information you want to communicate in one place that is easy to use. As it is now, you might be making changes to your website, your Facebook page, your Facebook fan page, sending tweets, sending emails, using voice broadcasts, and so forth. It’s enough to keep a social media manager crazy all day with these stuff.

   The challenge we face in business is getting information out in timely fashion without contorting ourselves or being in a constant frenzy. Let me demonstrate how one company recently solved some of these problems.

   I give you…the ipad. Steve Jobs insisted all his products have elegance and be easy to use. The ipad is a neat little package of problem solving genius. Think about how it functions, where it functions, and the size for all that functioning. I’m amazed everyone hasn’t ditched their computers to use the thing all the time. Well, okay, it’s much easier for me to write sitting at a desk top computer with full-size keyboard than at a little toy-like device. But you get my drift…

   As we become more proficient in our communications and learn how to really reach the people who could be our customers, we’ll welcome anything that benefits us in taming the beast of the web. We shall overcome…our difficulties with technology.

Have a terrific week!

Patricia

Business, blessings and beyond

   It’s Thanksgiving week, which means it is time to be thankful for the blessings we have in our business and personal lives. Many of you think business needs to improve, as does the rest of the economy. Indeed, there is room for improvement. That doesn’t alter the fact that we all have many reasons to give thanks.

   The past year has been filled with countless opportunities to learn new ways of doing our businesses. If you intend to stay in the game you know you have to keep finding ways to tell your story to your customers and offer the best products you possibly can. Further more, you have to be able to promise your customers that you guarantee the products you sell, if you offer service and maintenance it must be first class, and you have to offer a full refund if people are dissatisfied with the products. Failure to take any of these steps will leave you in the also-ran category.

   Whether your business is product or service oriented, you owe your customers the best you have to offer. Why should people spend with you instead of someone else? Answers to this question will help you decided what you have to do next to increase your business traffic and awareness. Perhaps you need a business coach or consultant to guide you to a better platform. There might be many ways to improve your product, or certainly how you sell and service that product. Find out what you need and make the decision to move forward in the next few months.

   But this week, take the time to be thankful for what you have in your life. If you need changes, start making them. I promise you that having an attitude of gratitude for the good you have will make your life better. Have a blessed week and happy Thanksgiving!

Patricia

Gibson Guitars, G-Men and Regulatory Absurdity

   Gibson guitars seem to be a major threat to the United States and conservation. That’s the conclusion I reached after reading about how an armed SWAT team arrived at the company’s factories and headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.

   On August 24 federal agents arrived with all the subtlety of a Hollywood celebrity. A simple office call didn’t fit the bill. Mind you, guitar makers, as a lot, must be prone to intense violence while making fine instruments. Otherwise, why the hoopla?

   The November 12 issue of the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz about the “invasion” of the agents. In addition to a SWAT team with automatic weapons, Fish and Wildlife Service agents entered the factories and threatened the poor craftsmen and other employees. What heinous crime did Gibson commit to warrant such behavior? Well, we don’t really know because they have not been charged with a crime. What? No charge? Nope. It’s hard to imagine what crime is so secret even the alleged perpetrator can’t be told about it. Entré to the premises was gained because the feds had a warrant issued under the Lacy Act, a conservation law.

   What conservation law did Gibson violate? Guitar makers use imported rosewood to form the frets on guitars (that’s the long, skinny part where musicians place their fingers to make chords.) Guitar makers don’t normally raise their exposure to liability by importing illegal hardwoods from other nations. Neither did Gibson. They have all the proper documentation stating unequivocally they met the standards for legal importation of rosewood from India. So what is the real problem? That’s hard to say. Because Juszkiewicz isn’t speculating about any of it.

   The CEO denies the “raid” was politically motivated. Naturally he has some smart lawyers who advised him to keep mum, especially in front of the press. No sense stirring up yet more animosity from the purveyors of political correctness and liberal nonsense. The interview is an upbeat account of how Gibson is faring, other than the pesky problem of the Lacey Act. Musicians are all about making music on their instruments and listening to music through a variety of playthings, so Gibson is focusing on that, rather than the theatrics. Still, you have to wonder.

   If a major music instrument manufacturer can be hounded by thugs supposedly representing us in the guise of government workers, what could happen to the rest of us and our businesses? Is your business safe from predatory intervention? Go ask the owners of coal mines. If the EPA regulations continue unabated we’ll see more mines shutting down with the concomitant rise in energy prices. Energy companies are under attack now from untenable regulations. What other businesses will find themselves in court, their rights sacrificed on the altar of politics.

   Gibson doesn’t claim politics is behind this scare tactic. Boeing will sing a different song. Their move to build a plant in South Carolina is being blocked by the National Labor Relations Board, an entity with no jurisdiction over where companies build their plants. Yet, somehow, they are in the midst of trammeling upon Boeings right to conduct business as it sees fit. See a pattern here?

   If you care about your business, your personal life, and the ability for you and your family to decide for yourself how to pursue your own happiness, then start making noise. As P.J. O’Rourke says in his book, “Don’t Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards,” we have the only republic founded upon the premise that we are endowed by our Creator to many things, including the right to pursue happiness. Exercise your rights and tell the turkeys to leave you alone. In a world gone mad with murders and terrorists, surely there are more important problems than picking on guitar makers about where they obtain their wood for parts. This is especially true if that business followed all the laws in importing the wood. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. But, then, that’s what the left does best…waste our money, right? Okay, time to smile again. And it’s time for a real change, don’t you think?

Have a terrific day!

Patricia

Health Care Changes Beyond 2012

   Last week I wrote about the more immediate changes in health care plans for 2012. As you might imagine, the changes won’t end next year. While the new plans roll out, there are other things you want to keep in mind for the future.

   Barring the gutting or repeal of Obamacare, we can look forward to more restrictions beginning in 2014. While there are some benefits to the Patient Affordability and Care Act, the down side skews the equation in favor of problems for business owners, difficult decisions for people without health care insurance and the self-employed.

   On the positive side, insurance companies cannot consider a person’s health status when insuring them. Kaching…that was the sound of your premiums going up to begin paying for coverage of more unhealthy people. Now, for the record, I am all in favor of insuring everyone, regardless of health status. None of us want our families to live without health care coverage. The financial consequences can be devastating for families if someone becomes very ill. But we need a better plan for paying for all this coverage than what we see today and in the near future. In two years almost everyone will be required to have some form of health insurance. In order to force this on people, health insurance “exchanges” will be created to accommodate the varying income levels of people. It is not entirely clear today how these exchanges will actually work to the benefit of the insureds or the insurance companies.

   One of the criticisms of Obamacare is that it is a thinly disguised plan to force everyone out of private insurance and choice into these exchanges, which will be managed by some federal agency. Trying to understand the deluge of verbiage on this topic is like trying to nail Jello to the wall. The truth is no one seems to know how this would really work. In the breach, we already see companies adhering to new law to be by offering coverage extensions to children up to age 26 who are living at home with their parents. This raises more problems for companies who are trying to peer into the crystal ball to see what they’ll be on the hook for in two years.

   Many companies admit they might just drop health insurance benefits for their employees. Rising costs, more liability, and confusing laws and rules, guarantee more owners will throw up their hands in disgust and opt out of the system. The owners are also looking at options that help them force more accountability and self-care on their employees. These options include Accountable-care organizations, reference-based pricing and defined contributions.

   Accountable-care organization reward health providers who cut expenses while maintaining good performance. These organizations can be physician owned, physician and insurance company owned, or some other combination. Reference-based pricing lets the company declare what it is willing to pay for services. Employees are then responsible for finding health care providers willing to work for the amount offered. This price shopping still allows employees to choose a higher-priced provider, but the employee must pay the difference in prices. Defined contributions means the company gives employees a set amount of money to purchase plans where they wish. Any difference in prices must be absorbed by the employee. These plans are available on an exchange, so employees will have more choices in this plan.

   All this presumes employees will see the benefit in these changes. Most people have gotten used to some form of HMO, PPO, or other network system with predictable premiums, co-pays, deductibles and so forth. This future is starting to look like the wild west of health care and insurance exchanges. We will have to actually read the information from different companies, plans, and exchanges to decide where and how to best protect our families with health care. This could be a confusing time ahead.

   We need more information and education in order to make this complicated plan work. Or, better yet, we could scrap the plan before it fully vests and find a better way to insure Americans that allows doctors to practice medicine and keeps us all honest. Can someone please invent a better mousetrap soon?

Have a terrific day!

Patricia

Healthcare plans for 2012

   ‘Tis the season…for open enrollment in healthcare, from company benefits to Medicare. Unfortunately, most of us won’t be getting many sweets in our stockings this year. What we can expect to get is higher deductibles, higher out-of-pocket costs that will surely continue rising, fewer options in doctors or networks, more aggravation and longer waits.

   The impetus behind increased costs to employees is simple: increased costs across the board for everyone. Employers can not absorb the increased costs in health care. They are being pushed into a corner with expenses. The only viable solution is to pass on the costs and encourage their employees to manage their own health care in better ways.

   Some firms may offer financial incentives to stop smoking, start exercising, lose weight, what ever it takes to drop the increased risks of unhealthy living. If you are lucky enough to work for one of these companies, by all means, take advantage of everything you can to improve your wellbeing. After all, your boss will not be caring for you if you become unable to work from illness, you will have to manage yourself. You will be paying the costs for the consequences of living a sloppy lifestyle. To avoid calamity and unmanageable bills, take action now to prevent more problems. This is the message your employer will be sending.

   Some people were caught flat-footed when employers changed to high deductibles mid-year. It is very difficult for a family to swallow a deduction of several thousand dollars. This reminds me of when my children were young and we had to HMO in our town. Every medical visit, prescription, and procedure an required upfront payment and then we had to wait for the reimbursement of 80% or less. Strict budgeting is necessary for families with young children who might see a doctor more frequently than someone who is older. This is a system requiring tough choices for families. And for employers.

   People have to pay more attention to choosing their health care plans and reading the information on how the plan works. You might want vision insurance, but if your premiums are lower without it, leave it on the table. Unless you have serious eye problems, you can get an eye exam and glasses at discount retail places such as Eye Masters for less money than the premiums on vision insurance in most cases. This is not true for all people, but it behooves you to check it out. Do not waste precious premiums dollars on something you can buy for less elsewhere. The same is true of prescriptions: ask for generics, join a prescription plan at your pharmacy, or use a discount pharmacy. Be a smart consumer with health care!

   The news will continue to get worse. You can expect prices to rise next year. You will have to find out how you can use Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts to complement a higher deductible. Expect fewer options in the future. If you are wondering why the squeeze, consider the following. If employers are pummeled by health care costs, they might decide to eliminate health care benefits for all employees. This could be especially true of small businesses that lack sufficient income to offset rising costs. The new health care rules require everyone to obtain health care insurance. If employees can not obtain health benefits at work, they will have to look elsewhere. Cynics might say this is a great way to force people into a healthcare system under government control. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

 Have a terrific day!

Patricia

Entrepreneurs, real life solutions, and no government interference

   An article in the October 22 issue of the Wall Street Journal revealed the invention of new robots that let paralyzed people walk again. This isn’t science fiction…it is the result of work and research initiated and funded originally by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The impetus may have come from the need to find ways to put injured soldiers back into the mainstream of life. The great news is that entrepreneurs are springing up to find ways to make the most efficacious and least expensive robot to sell.

   The robots resemble exoskeletons. A walking skeleton, if you will, that holds up a flesh and blood person. When strapped onto these robots, the person with paraplegia can walk again, move around, perform ordinary daily tasks of living. This is nearly miraculous in terms of integrating technology and solutions for people with debilitating injuries. Imagine someone with a spinal cord injury who was told he could never walk again getting up and walking around a room! This is a dream come true

   Companies world-wide are developing these robots, each wanting to take the pinnacle in the market place for providing and selling the robots. The good news is that creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship is alive in well on the planet. The bad news, you guessed it, some interference from the federal government.

   First the Food and Drug Administration has put up road blocks for these devices because, unlikely as it seems, they can’t control the robots. FDA requirements are more intrusive on these personal devices. This means robots made outside the United States experience difficulty getting FDA approval for imports to the US.

   The market potential for these devices is huge. But will we place the ability to control companies above need? If past experience is any indication, the answer is yes. The best way to ensure people who need help to walk again can get that help is for the feds to refrain from stepping on the toes of entrepreneurs and their companies. The future is here for new hope and life. We don’t want to see that hope squelched by excessive regulation.