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