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. |
