Archive for June, 2009

There are three types of business owners – The Professional Hobbyist, the Job Owner, and the Businessman.  Recognizing these types, and setting your expectations accordingly, can have a dramatic effect on the level of success you achieve in business.

The Professional Hobbyist: This person started out doing something they love as a hobby, and then they opened a business so they could get paid to do it.  They take great pride in their work.  You can recognize this person because they have all the newest and best tools and materials, and they love to show you.  They have invested quite a bit of money into their operation, and anytime the business has extra cash that could be profit, they use it to buy even newer and better stuff, even though they’re not using half the equipment they already own.  After all, they think that the capacity to do even more and even better work will eventually lead to bigger and better profits.  However, no matter how long they have been at it, their business has never shown a profit.

This economy gets blamed for everything. Granted, it IS causing plenty of problems for a lot of people. But that’s no reason to let other issues needlessly drain the profitability of your business. Let me explain what I mean.

After looking at dozens of businesses and talking with their owners, I saw a particular “economic” situation far too frequently. These businesses were struggling with reduced profits, or in some cases serious losses, due in part to a steep decline in sales. In every case, the owners told me this decline in sales was due to the economy. That’s where they’re missing the boat. What’s more, it’s the unspoken implications of this statement that make it so dangerous.

A number of people have been asking me about the real estate market lately, and with good reason – there’s a lot going on. The question everyone wants answered is “are we at THE BOTTOM?”

To answer that question, first remember that a bottoming market is a process, not a single point in time. Taking a closer look at how the market topped will give you a wealth of insight and understanding of today’s market conditions. The markets are driven by the collective psychology of everyone involved in the market. When most people believe prices will keep going up, there are more buyers than sellers, weaker supply and stronger demand, and people worry less about paying too much for a property because the price increases will quickly make up the difference. That’s what the real estate market was like in 2005.

Welcome to the Profit Tool Belt, I’m glad you stopped by!  I’ll be sharing tools, tips, techniques, and other information gleaned from years of consulting, not to mention the trial and error of running my own businesses, to help you manage the profits in your business more effectively.  Notice I said “manage the profits.” Most business owners manage their time, they manage their staff, they manage their expenses, they manage their sales, they manage almost everything except the profits.  This blog will help you change that.