Don't get blindsided

When someone takes the initiative to start a small business, they usually possess some strong characteristic traits.

Not everyone who has an idea or product to sell has the stuff it takes to start a business venture. These folks are called wana-preneurs.  

But those bold folks who do dare to start out on their own can become victim to some of their strengths. They are usually rugged individualists, and sometimes that can insulate them from glaring mistakes because they can't see the forest for the trees. Some mistakes I have observed:

• They fall in love with there logo or brand because it's their baby. All well and good if it's effective and on point. But all too often, it's amateurish and misleading. 

• They don't know their costs and numbers is another blind spot. They price things because that's what the competition or market says that is what they should charge. If they can't figure out the cost of doing business and profit margins, they are at the mercy of the customer and consumer. They need to know their numbers and justify the price that is profitable and fair. 

• They can't manage their time is another trap that snags the solopreneur. They get bogged down in working in their business on not on their business. They end up getting behind, not following up with clients, not keeping their paperwork in order, and their schedule is dictated only by one urgent task and then another. 

• They don't have the skill sets to promote their business, product, or service. They never learned to sell, prospect, or market. They just run after the easiest path of least resistance to get to market.

• They often fly by the seat of their pants with no plan, no goals, and no structure. They are chasing one shiny object after another. 

So let me say if this is you, let us sit down and let us evaluate your business practices. We at Your Office SOS have decades of business experience and insight we can bring to help you navigate the choppy waters of the business world. See our website www.yourofficeoss.net for the details. 

Doctor Zhivago Now

I thought of what it must have been like in the time of the Russian Revolution while watching one of my favorite movies Doctor Zhivago. I think we are in the early stages of that movie here in America. 

I never thought things would get this bad here in the USA; they are. There is no getting around it. We are going to have a severe battle or revolution of some scope on our hands. I do not hear any voice on either side that is powerful or influential enough to appease the calmer voices in the middle. 

The divide is too strong, and social media reinforces that divide. We all get our confirmation bias feedback from our tribe. The media we watch panders to our given views and becomes a reality for the narrative they want to advocate. Advocacy has replaced journalism and has infected every media source we read, listen to, or follow. 

I read a blog recently when I searched for the lyrics to the song by Buffalo Springfield, "For What it's Worth" (There's battle lines being drawn And nobody's right if everybody's wrong ). The blog had a perspective on the middle that I found interesting. I hardly agree with her (when looking at her bio) in any area religiously, politically, and philosophically, but she has a point.

http://dlhalperblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/nobodys-right-if-everybodys-wrong.html

Opening a can of worms

Well, after taking last Monday off for the Labor Day Holiday, I am back doing my weekly Monday blog.

This week I am going to be addressing a topic that may trigger some folks. As they say, "fools rush in, where angels fear to tread," so here I go.

I want to address the topic of diversity and inclusion. 

First off, I am writing this as a straight, white male going on 70, which gives me a perspective on how we got here and why we got here on this topic.

One definition of diversity and inclusions parameters:

A person who identifies as a woman, a person of color, a Muslim, a member of the LGBTQ community, a foreign-born non-citizen, a disabled person, an older person, a young person, and any other underrepresented people group.

 

My question asked is why any of these qualities, traits, or ethnicities qualify anyone for anything. Nothing here addresses the fact that very short ( P.C. here: vertically challenged ) people do not make the NBA or blind (P.C. again: visually challenged) folk don't make it in NASCAR.

It seems D&I only apply when there is ambiguous subjectivity involved. 

The sports analogy shouldn't be dismissed so lightly. Why would any other endeavore so rigorously be required to slot a person in just to fill an identity role? 

Men have dominated just about every endeavor up until recently. Maybe technology levels a lot of things. Is it just because just brute strength is not as necessary as it once was? 

Why are there not more female jockey's in horse racing? I believe every major sport would love to have the first female on a men's team. I watched Anika Sorenstam play the Colonial; no one is stopping her. She just couldn't make the cut.

When we lower strength requirements for police. military and EMT personnel are we not violating 

the Hippocratic oath of, "first do no harm?"

I could go on about why. Why no Asian defensive backs in the NFL? Why so few blacks and Hispanics in hockey? These are all too rampant in sports analogies. I would get redundant.

Why do Asians dominate our schools as academic achievers? Why are there not more women plumbers? 

Every President was a male, and until just recently was there a black President. Only three females have ever run and are running for Vice-President. Was it because voters didn't vote for someone solely based on their identity. Women and minorities have had the vote all my life. 

I am not sure why certain groups and specific identifiers happen. I am sure that with today's victim mentality and identity politics so pushed by our politicians, media, and academia, there would be a better, more reasonable explanation come forth that just explicit discrimination. 

All this being said, I know that whatever opinion I have is quickly dismissed and discredited because I am an old straight white male. 

I only hope that in the future, we can ride on airplanes that are flown by and built by the most qualified folks and not the most diverse. Just an example for sure. But when identity triumphs over anything else, the results will not turn out well.

Work life balance

 Are you drowning in the details if your business? You got in business because you love "whatever." You want to work on your business, not in your business. 

You start finding your day is consumed by prospecting, answering emails, planning your schedule, preparing that PowerPoint presentation, etc. No time to post to social media. No time to follow up on those proposals. Phone calls are not being returned. 

 

Pretty soon, you no longer have a business because you drowned in the details. Your health is declining. The kids are feeling neglected. Now, the wife is ready to leave. All because you couldn't turn loose of the details you didn't need to be doing anyway. 

We can free you to do what you do best: we take care of the rest. SO before you drown in a sea of stress, call Your Office SOS.  We will turn your life from crappy to happy.

Why hire us as your Virtual Office?

 At the end of the day, when you get ready for bed and reflect on how your day went, do you say, "I didn't do anything to move my business forward."

You stay awake thinking that all you did was tread water, and even at that every day, the water gets closer to drowning you. 

You fall back asleep then wake up in the middle of the night panicked because that client didn't get called back. You suddenly realized his bill never went out. Then you start to sweat because you remember you missed some critical meetings. 

You toss and turn, and then it occurs to you that the proposal you meant to mail is on your nightstand. The proposal is under a stack of invoices you forgot to pay. Of course, money isn't coming in because you have no time to prospect for new business. 

Your spouse then wakes up and starts complaining about the fact you haven't spent any time with the family. You know you are missing your children growing up, and you will never get that chance again.

You may have just gotten back to sleep. You try to pray when you suddenly realize you haven't been to church or spent any time with God or His Word. Yikes! 

You reach over on your nightstand, and it hits you; there is a bottle of pills to reduce stress. There is a glass of wine to help you sleep because you drank too much coffee during the day trying to focus. 

There is a better way. We at Your Office SOS let you do what you do best, and we handle the rest. We give you back those precious unrenewable resources; your life and your time. 

Before you drown in a sea of stress, call Your Office SOS. We turn your life form crappy to happy. 

Your Office SOS to the rescue!

 My wife and I started our company, Your Office SOS. SOS stands for supported outsourced services. We are Virtual Assistants that take the place of having a physical office and staff. 

Our ideal client is that solopreneur or entrepreneur. They have launched their business. Now finding they are working in their business instead of on their business. 

Maybe when they were first starting, they could rent a coworking space and get the details accomplished. When there was time left, then they could focus on the revenue-generating aspect of the business. 

At a certain point, they are working so hard to stay afloat trying to get it all done; they soon start to go under the waves of details. At that point comes Your Office SOS to the rescue. We will rescue you from the non-revenue producing work and focus on what they do best. 

We can handle the sales, marketing, and business development to make you profitable. We also can manage the administrative services such as scheduling, organizing, and customer care. 

We free you to do what you do best, and we take care of the rest. 

To mask or not to mask: that is the question.

 I am genuinely intrigued by the controversy over mask-wearing in public during the current Covid-19 crisis. I am observing that its one issue that transcends political partisanism. 

As a conservative Christian, we tend not to trust in medicine or science when it touches politics. Those disciplines seem to align themselves with particular worldviews that skew their objectivity. We especially don't believe global organizations that reflect globalist agendas. We tend to be rugged individualists and Constitutionalists. 

Progressives and liberals tend to be more collectivist and generally see the collective good outweighs individual rights in most areas. They see science as more valid than any other institution. 

Which brings us to the issue at hand, to mask or not to mask. 

I can usually tell whether a person is progressive or conservative by any number of political issues. There is no middle ground anymore. 

However, this mask issue has me confused. There are people on both sides that see different reasons to wear or not wear a mask. 

The pro-mask seems to think that we are responsible for the populace at large to wear a mask to prevent the spread of the disease. The mask is to prevent you from spreading the virus but is of little or no effect in preventing you from getting the infection. They see the mask as your duty to the public. 

The anti-mask folks seem to think that there is no real scientific consensus as to the effectiveness of the mask. Therefore it becomes a visible sign of acquiescing to government tyranny and infringes on individual rights. It is a sign of weakness and cowardice. They think if you are afraid stay at home. 

I fall somewhere in the middle of this, but I would love to hear your comments.