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6 Things Waiting Tables Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

April 16, 2014 by Michael Neely

Entrepreneurial Insights from Years of Experience as a Server

Have you ever worked in a restaurant waiting tables before? With regard to entrepreneurship, your server can tell you a lot about business. A lot of people have done it. Many people take the job while working their ways through college or pursuing alternate careers. I got my first job as a waiter in 1992 when I was a married, unemployed salesman and “failed” entrepreneur with a brand new baby. I also had less than $15 in my checking account during Christmas season. I got a job at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hoover, Alabama. I was desperate. I had to make money so we could eat. I was also an entrepreneur in “learning mode” (which means my first venture did not work out).

My experience waiting tables for a living in Birmingham (AL), south Florida, and Atlanta for $2.13 per hour plus tips (and $3.35 per hour plus tips in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) is the inspiration for this blog post. I have also worked in a few “pool houses,” or restaurants where the waitstaff pools their tips and divides them among themselves equally, regardless of contribution. Some of this information does not apply as equally to servers’ experiences in California and Nevada (and possibly other places) where unions play a large role in the hospitality industry.

Note: For all you hardcore restaurant folks out there who refer to your customers as “guests,” I have chosen the word “customer” because most business owners call their patrons by the name “customers.”

1) You are NOT ENTITLED to an income and your successes are NOT GUARANTEED

If you don’t come to work, you don’t get paid. Your income as a server is directly proportional to the value you bring to your guests in the best (or harshest) of terms. Even in a “pool house” situation (you are equally dividing tips with the entire waitstaff), your co-workers can easily turn against you if you’re not pulling your own weight. If you sit on your duff and wait for the money to roll in as a server, you will be out of your source of income quickly. The same thing is true as an entrepreneur. If you don’t create value for your customers, you don’t make sales. If you don’t make sales, you are out of business…or will be soon.

2) You can go out of business through no fault of your own

You can come to work one day and find a note on the door saying “Sorry, but we are out of business.” The owner could get over-extended financially. The restaurant lease could get negotiated right out of under the restaurant, or drug and alcohol abuse could take its toll (the owners are not exempt). In some places, the managers may decide that you’re too old, too good, too bad, not pretty enough, or any reason they choose (in “right-to-work” states). It it is living life on the edge constantly, just as an entrepreneur does.

3) Customer (or Guest) service is 95% of your success as a server, if not more

If you give great customer service, you get paid. If you give awesome customer service, you get paid well. If your customer service sucks, you get paid nothing. This is the idea behind waiting tables in the acronym “To Insure Prompt Service” (TIPS). If you own your own business and your customer service sucks, the chances are very good that your business will not last for very long. Competition is too fierce these days to stay in business, and not deliver outstanding customer service.

4) Your income is directly proportional to how hard and how well you work

If you work hard and get great results, your income goes up. If you work poorly or get bad results, your income goes down. This is pure entrepreneurship at it’s best (or worst). One of the aspects of successfully applied entrepreneurship is to delegate as many of the daily tasks to responsible employees, or to contract out the grunt work. If you are not actually getting your hands dirty, how well you delegate the important tasks of your business is also directly proportional to your income and your success.

5) The restaurant does not employ you; you employ you

As a server in a restaurant, you do not get a paycheck. Your meager hourly wage goes to pay your taxes (hopefully). The restaurant does not lay claim to your exclusive employment. They don’t employ you. Your customers do. As an entrepreneur, your customers are the people who employ you in the marketplace. Hopefully, I’m not being redundant here. Taking care of your customers is your first job as a server, and as an entrepreneur. Without customers, you’re done as a server, and as an entrepreneur.

6) There is no safety net

If you fail as a server, you get fired. If you fail as an entrepreneur, you can’t pay the rent, and your landlord fires you. In both cases, there is no safety net. Going to the labor department to draw your unemployment check is an adventure in futility. If you have no verifiable income, then your unemployment check will be pretty weak. In my experience, unemployment checks are very weak. The last unemployment check I got from a restaurant closing was $290 per week. Have you ever tried to live on less than $300 per week?

There are probably more ways that being a server is similar to being an entrepreneur, especially a start-up entrepreneur that I have overlooked. The point is to understand where the risk involved in your operations are and to mitigate those risks ion order to achieve success. Servers bear all the risk of a restaurant, unlike the managers that think they employ their servers. Entrepreneurs also deal with risks daily. A restaurant server can easily adapt to the world of entrepreneurship and business ownership due to a servers familiarity with risk.

So go get ’em, Tiger! Don’t be afraid (as much) to get started on your dream of owning your own business, and walk away from the apron! You are more prepared than you think!

What your waiter can teach you about entrepreneurship
Contagious Entrepreneurship: People Who Know Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Become Entrepreneurs, Kauffman Foundation Survey Shows
Can we nurture a new generation of entrepreneurs?
New York Enterprise Report | 25Founders: Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

Your Job is a Business Decision

February 26, 2014 by Michael Neely

: Source: iStockPhoto.com

Feeling trapped in your job lately?

You’re not the only one. Some people say that’s the way it’s supposed to be. The monthly job report is just one example. If you pay attention to the mainstream media, you already know that the government and media are selling job-slavery, and most people buy it. The politicians want you to stay put so they can keep you counted in their favorite stack of numbers. The media need you to stay in your job because they are all staying in their jobs even though their employers limit their futures. Your job, according to the powers that be, is your only source of cash flow, your only hope for providing for your family, for giving your kids an education, and for giving you a shot at survival. Your employer doesn’t want you to change, grow, or even think for yourself. If you did change or think for yourself, that means that the overall business wouldn’t need the managers stellar form of “leadership.” It also means your managers would have to work harder, desperately trying to dupe the next sucker into the position you vacated as you chose the red pill over the blue pill, and bolted.

It used to be THIS way…

Many years ago, there was a place called the Soviet Union. I don’t remember when I heard it first. One of my teachers in middle school told our class that you weren’t allowed to pick your job in the Soviet Union. The story was that, as a child, your test scores would dictate what job we would have as adults as mandated by the State. I never lived in the Soviet Union, but I have heard other stories since its collapse from Russian people who moved to the United States in the early 90’s. I have also heard of similar stories from Chinese people about how the teachers were the most catered to people in the community because it was their judgement that decided if you went to medical school or straight to the fields as a worker. It is hard to imagine such a thing happening in the “land of the free,” the United States.

Is Your Job Your Purpose?

Some people have jobs they hate and trudge off to in misery every minute of their day. They have no idea what their purpose is because they’ve never asked themselves the scary questions about their purpose. If you’re dedicating your life to your family and sacrificing your dreams for their well-being, then that is one form of purpose. Either that or someone convinced you that no one really lives their purpose or is truly happy in life. Either way, it seems that the majority of people are working jobs they hate, for not enough money, for too many hours in the day…and night. When you were a kid, did you often fantasize about working a job you hated? Of course not. You were going to change the world, fight evil, or spend more time playing than working. What happened? The world beat you into the shape they wanted, and you gave them your permission. The price you paid was living your purpose.

Forcing Conformity Through Fear

They tell you that you have bills to pay. They tell you that you should be this way or that. They tell you that your job is your life and that you love it…when they aren’t trying to convince you that you aren’t cut out for this job or that job. If you don’t pay your bills, you’ll be out in the street and blah, blah, blah. Fear is how the collective “they” keep you in place. Fear of the unknown is the other force that keeps you in a status quo you can’t stand. The only antidote for fear is courage. The courage to understand that fear is created only in your mind. Since you created that fear, you can also do away with that fear, and start living your purpose.

Your Job Is a Decision…That Can Be Changed

Your job is not a life sentence, unless you make it one. It is a business decision that people make. People make decisions every day for the betterment (or detriment) of their lives and the lives of their families. If you choose to make your job a life sentence and you are not happy with the results, you will have no one to blame, but the person you see in the mirror. If you are not happy with your job, change it! In this day and age, the only thing keeping you from the life you truly want is developing the energy and the belief that it is possible and getting started. Even if it’s only for a half an hour a day, you must start somewhere if you are going to change your life. It won’t happen by itself.

You are free to choose for yourself the destiny you desire. Choose well!

My Atlanta Winter Storm 2014

February 3, 2014 by Michael Neely

A wintry snow scene in Piedmont Park ... — A wintry snow scene in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, January 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Winter Storm Scenario

The day was Monday January 27th, 2014. I got up extra early to run errands and make bank deposits. I checked the weather forecast before I left which called for 1 -2 inches of snow for Tuesday from Accuweather.com. For five years, I lived in south Florida, where the weather can turn ugly in a matter of minutes in the form of severe thunderstorms, torrential floods, and hurricanes. It’s a habit I still am grateful for today. I noticed that it said 1-2 inches of snow forecasted for the Atlanta area. My first thought is “They aren’t playing around with this storm.” We received several warnings about snow only to be light dustings all winter long. For the meteorologists at Accuweather.com to mention 1-2 inches of snow in Atlanta, there must be a good chance of snow accumulation. The words “snow” and “accumulation” are bad news in the South.

My Experience

My story reads like this. I don’t have a car (at this time). I take MARTA, taxis, and Uber. If I need to, I can always rent a car. If those methods can’t get me where I want or need to go, I have a boatload of determination, a working pair of 11’s, and hiking boots to put on them to take me anywhere I want to go within the city within reason. I live less than 5 miles from my current source of cash flow. The chances of my getting stuck in the snow are extremely bad. If I did somehow get stuck in the snow, I still remember some survival techniques from the Boy Scouts. I am ready for almost anything (or so I’d like to think).

I was on the phone with a friend Tuesday morning and laziness was setting in. She prodded me to get out the door and get all my errands done, like make my IRS payment, and go to the grocery store at 10:30am. I pulled up the weather radar on Accuweather.com, and noticed the snow was coming towards Atlanta. Out the door I went. On Tuesday, January 28th the storm hit around 12:15pm. It didn’t hit like a hurricane does. It hit like a lamb does, gently falling snow falling from the sky. No high winds, “thunder snow,” or snowfalls of over a foot which I experienced in the Blizzard of 1993 in Birmingham, AL. Just snow. It was 25f in Atlanta when it started snowing and fell to 18f, which is unseasonably cold for our fair city. My “long johns” were doing their job, and I was warm. All my errands were done by 1pm. I was safe at home and napping by 3:30pm. Snow totals at my home were about 0.8 inches of snow.

What Others Experienced

Other people I knew got out of work in time to leave and make it onto the highways where gridlock ensued. It was almost like a sort of panic set in. I was almost run over repeatedly crossing the street in Buckhead when the snow started. Then approximately 6,000,000 people were trying to make it home all at the same time. Some people in my hometown of Birmingham, AL fared worse. These are college-educated people who have the same resources that I do. For some, their employers didn’t allow their employees to leave. School administrators didn’t allow kids to leave the schools. “How could this happen in this day and age?” I thought.

Where did it all go wrong?

How could so many people get stuck in the snow? How did so many people get stranded on the side of the road, stuck at school or at work? Where did the bad information come from? Here is how that happens. I noticed about a year ago a debate between forecasters regarding hurricane tracking that there were multiple models. There was a European model that was proving more accurate for predicting hurricane tracking. The model the National Weather Service was using wasn’t working as well. Could the same thing happen with tracking and predicting winter storms also? I believe it is the main reason things went wrong. This blog post from Jeremy Kappell, a meteorologist Louisville, KY TV station WDRB confirms that idea.

Lack of Personal Responsibility Maybe?

This might irritate people. As I mentioned earlier in this blog post, I saw on Monday morning that the forecast on Accuweather.com was calling for 1-2 inches of snow on Monday morning. If you’ve lived in the South for any considerable period of time, you’ll now that snow doesn’t happen here very often. When the forecasters…any forecasters mention “snow” and “inches” in the same sentence, it means trouble. “Oh it’s going to miss to the south, the north a light dusting, etc.” For the forecasters, this is an really bad error. Fo rthe citizens, it’s called “denial.” I remembered when I called for Hurricane Frances to hit Palm Beach county in September 2004. Everyone I talked to said “Hurricanes don’t hit Palm Beach county.” They were unprepared.

Governor Nathan Deal and Mayor Kasim Reed caught a flak from reporters including Al Roker and Jim Cantore for not having Atlanta prepared better. Meanwhile, government officials make decisions based on the information the decisions that the forecasters give them. In my humble opinion, the forecasts, some of whom got the forecast wrong, were jumping the gun to deflect blame from themselves. It also allowed the meteorologists a rare opportunity at stardom. Also reporters have latched on to the Rahm Emanuel quote “Never waste a good crisis” and run with it lately. The media storm and blame game began before the snow had even stopped falling.

The Bottom Line (as I see it)

We were all given the same information. Some heeded it and acted wisely. Others did not. School children are exempt from this because they are at the mercy of the school officials (yikes!). The main lesson from all of this is that we take the weather for granted. Whether it’s tornadoes, drought, hurricanes, snow, blizzards, extreme heat or cold, we forget that the weather can cause us extreme discomfort, and even death. I learned one of the best lessons as a former sailor and as someone who was sporadically “residentially challenged.” The weather is bigger than all of us and has no respect for us. Respect it and watch it carefully. Extreme climate change due to extraordinary events is what we think killed the dinosaurs after all.

Disclosure: I do not work for Accuweather.com, nor do I receive any compensation for this blog. They are my trusted source for weather information. I stopped trusting Weather.com when they started posting animal slaughter videos on their web site about a year ago. They have taken the videos down by now, but it told me that they were more interested in political statements than being responsible meteorologists. I am not a meteorologist, but my educational background is in nuclear physics. Weatther has been a fascination and hobby of mine since 1975 when I rode out my Hurricane Eloise under a desk at Peter Crump Elementary in Montgomery, AL. I was in the third grade. I get the weather.

How did the weather forecasters get it so wrong?
SnowedOutAtlanta: Extreme Travel Chaos in the Deep South
Weather patterns call for more snow
Storm Retrospective

Everyone is Selling Something

January 29, 2014 by Michael Neely

What Are You Selling?

Last night was President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address. Whether you like him or don’t like him, he was selling his heart out. He was selling the American people on the direction that he thinks the United States of America should be moving. You may have bought his sales pitch, or it may have fallen flat to you. That’s not my point. He was selling. From the phone messages offering you a way to start earning $5,000 per day leaving voice mails to the President of the United States, everyone is selling something.

Selling is the Basis for Our Economy

Selling is not a bad thing, unless, of course, the salesperson means to swindle and trick people out of their money. We live in a capitalist economy, no matter what your political beliefs are. Capitalism requires businesses to perform at top levels, increase profits, pay their employees and pay their taxes. Yes, I said it. The root of all taxpaying comes from salespeople who generate revenues, who generate profits, which our government taxes and creates revenues for government. Without selling, the light bill doesn’t get paid, the taxes don’t get paid, and nothing moves forward. Nothing.

Are You Selling Failure or Success? Problems or Solutions?

Some people are selling wealth and accomplishment. Others are selling poverty and misery. Yes, people are actually selling poverty and misery. The bad news is that there is a market for it. By selling something called “helplessness” to others, it becomes “learned helplessness” and is a major cause of underachievement, poverty, and even crime. Do you hear more people selling problems or solutions? People who are selling problems are once again selling “helplessness.” When people buy “helplessness,” the blame machine turns on. Then the discussion becomes about who is to blame for the such-and-such event, not the solution for that event. Nothing gets done by selling failure or problems. Are you selling success? Everyone wants success, not failure. Everyone wants solutions to their problems, not more problems. Leave that to the evening news. They’re good at what they do.

If You’re Not Selling Success and Solutions, That Business Is Dead

In business, the object is to sell people a solution to their problems, not create more problems. If salespeople aren’t solving people’s problems in exchange for their money, they are creating problems for their clients and customers. If no one believes that a product or service can solve their problems, then no one will buy that product or service. If that product or service is not solving people’s problems, and people are buying those products or services, that business is doomed. That’s called fraud and it will be only a matter of time before government authorities shut that business down. If no one is buying that business’ products or services, that business is dead.

Responsible Selling Is the Answer

Responsible selling serves your clients and customers, not creates more problems for them. Responsible selling creates profits and a legacy for the business owner and the business. Sell responsibly! People need responsible selling. The laws of supply and demand will take care of irresponsible selling eventually.

The Best Advice Ever from Seth Godin

January 23, 2014 by Michael Neely

Who is Seth Godin?

Seth Godin is one of the entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers who helped the Internet become what it is today. He coined the phrase “Permission Marketing” with his now-classic book of the same title in 1999 as well as 16 other bestselling books on marketing and the Web 2.0 era. He has also become a hero of mine over the years.

The year was 2003…

I was the volunteer coordinator for the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Special Interest group for Fast Company magazine‘s Company of Friends readership network. Don’t look for it. It doesn’t exist anymore. This is also before I was formally introduced to the complete awesomeness of Seth Godin. Being a loyal Fast Company reader, I knew Seth was writing articles for Fast Company. Here’s what happened in a nutshell, when I asked Seth Godin to speak for one of our teleconferences I used to do. I sent an email, after all, everyone reads their email (right?). I didn’t get a response after a couple of days, so I sent another email. After all, I’m sure Seth is a busy man. Then one day I got the reply. I thought it would read how interested and excited he would be to speak for our prospective teleconference for our fledgling group associated with the magazine that he wrote articles for. I opened it, and to my horror I saw the reply: “What’s in it for me?”

“What’s In It For Me?”

When I first read Mr. Godin’s short reply to my carefully crafted invitation, I was insulted. I thought he was asking me for a fee. The magazine didn’t pay fees, my marketing budget for the group was zero, and my title began with the word “volunteer” (which meant I didn’t get paid either). I felt that I had nothing of value to offer Mr. Godin.

If you’ve ever been in professional sales, chances are that you’ve heard this phrase before. All of the big sales trainers like the late Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy, Jeffrey Gitomer have all used this phrase in their seminars. Why? Because it is a fundamental truth in persuading someone to buy what you are selling. In order to be successful in selling products, services, or even ideas, you have to explain what is in it for your prospect, audience, readers, etc. It is also something that I was not trained on until I learned some really bad habits early in my sales career.

The REAL Lesson

What I didn’t understand is that he was trying to teach me a lesson, to teach me about appealing to one’s primary motivations for doing anything. Fast forward about ten years and I’m still learning about marketing, about connecting with prospects and building a business that creates value for my customers and clients and for my bank account. I read about the Unique Selling Proposition (USP), about appealing to buying motivations, and then it hit me: Seth Godin was trying to help me! He wanted to help me connect with my prospects and customers better by being able to answer this question “What’s in it for me?”

The lesson is that if you are in the business of convincing someone to take an action, to enjoy a product or service, to click a link, or to do anything, you must know what ‘s in it for them. It doesn’t matter what you think is in it for them. It matters what they think is in it for them.

My Year-End Review of 2013

January 7, 2014 by Michael Neely

Now that the Year is Finished, It’s Time to Review My 2013

I think it’s kind of strange to review the past year before January 1, 2014 because the year isn’t over yet. Before I can review my year of miscues and triumphs, I feel the need to finish out the year first. I guess it’s from my background in sports (and watching sports on TV) that the winners play all the game, not just three-quarters of the game. Winners never give part of their efforts, but their best efforts always (IMHO). This year was no exception. I started out with creating change and I finished the year with improving my life. 2013 was a great year for me. Here’s why.

I Moved Into a New Apartment

I moved into a new apartment in March 2013. This was both a HUGE triumph and a big psychological boost for me. No one helped me move because I had to start at 6am. I had no time off from my j.o.b. (which will be left intentionally nameless…for now). I had every reason not to move, but I did it anyway. I now have a new office, new neighbors, and a new prosperous environment to live in.

I Became a Profitable FOREX Trader

First, I had to become a FOREX trader. I lost my first account in 2008. I lost my second account in 2009 and swore I’d never trade again. Then I gave it another go. I invested a few hundred dollars into my third FOREX account in 2012, and nothing happened. Then I started trading. I traded unprofitably from December 2012 until about March 2013. Then in April 2013, my first account became profitable. I was so excited, and I still am excited!

I Got Good at Trading the FOREX Markets

I turned my small investment over about 6 times in six months with a total return of 480% only to lose about $1200. It’s OK. I still had a return of 226% return for the year. I also had to use some of my earnings to pay my rent in November when the j.o.b. proved its namesake. My account is not as sizable as it was, but I accept the challenge of rebuilding it.

I Had the Worst Income Month since June 2012

This was a wake-up call and a good thing! My sole source of income at the time was my j.o.b. The job that I had taken in June 2012 that had markedly improved my lifestyle took a turn south in September 2013. This was scary because I wasn’t ready to move forward on new projects. It proved to me that this job wouldn’t last forever, and that a job with a pay scale that relied on business walking in the door was not going to continue to take care of me. I will have to take care of myself.

I Got Serious About My New Businesses

I had worked on the groundwork for a couple of new businesses, but I was allowing delays and learning to hold me back. I was treating my business start-ups like a correspondence course, learning at my pace. The slow month in September 2013 woke me up a little, and sped things up a notch too. I promised myself that by the time that January rolled around, I would be ready to launch a new business. Little did I know I will be launching two businesses. It’s not a good thing; it’s a great thing!

Bring On 2014!

All in all, 2013 was a great year! I took a few new risks and made some great gains. I did some new things that I didn’t know what the outcome would be or if the outcome would turn to my favor. I set up a lot of groundwork for more great gains in 2014, and I am definitely looking forward to the new year!

DISCLAIMER: Forex trading is one of the riskiest forms of investment available and may not be suitable for all traders. You can read a full risk disclaimer at one of my favorite FOREX brokerage firms IBFX.com.

Additional disclosure on trading the FOREX markets: I am a former Series Three broker with about 15 years of research going into the Currencies and Commodities Options and Futures markets. Only trade these markets with discretionary funds or money you can afford to lose.

Risk Management for New Entrepreneurs

June 17, 2013 by Michael Neely

You hear about the word “risk” all the time. The mere mention of the word generates fear in most “normal” people. If you are constantly wondering what your risks are in business, I guarantee you are either an attorney, an accountant or getting nothing done as an entrepreneur. For attorneys and accountants, it is their job to discover risks and help protect their clients from risks (at least that’s my perception). For entrepreneurs who create a business from nothing, there are many risks and some of them actually exist.

The Reality of Risk

Risk is all around us every day. A major cause of accidental death in the United States is car accidents, yet millions of people get in their cars every day and drive to work. There is a lot of it involved just in driving to work, yet people do it anyway. Once, flying through the air was incredibly risky, but airplanes have made it much less risky. Getting food used to mean the possibility of getting trampled by large animals, but the grocery store has made that activity less risky. Risk is relative. What seems like a huge risk to some is a new adventure for others. There is no escape.

What is “Risk?”

Merriam-Webster defines “risk” as follows:

Risk- 1: possibility of loss or injury : peril 2: someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard 3a : the chance of loss or the perils to the subject matter of an insurance contract; also : the degree of probability of such loss b : a person or thing that is a specified hazard to an insurer c : an insurance hazard from a specified cause or source <war risk> 4: the chance that an investment (as a stock or commodity) will lose value

Risk is Everywhere

Risks are something we live with every day, but they are sometimes blown out of proportion when it comes to business, and especially with starting your own business. Entrepreneurship has long been associated with risk by non-entrepreneurs. I have lost everything before in business. That’s because I risked everything. After I had learned not to risk it all, I stopped losing everything in business when I failed to reach my desired level of success. I found one of the best assessments of career risks in the book The Start-Up of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha. It is riskier to stay in the same place where you know bad things will happen compared to starting your own business. Again, risk is everywhere.

Risk vs. Comfort Zone

People become so accustomed to doing the same thing over and over again that they create a “comfort zone. ” When they get into these ruts, they see their comfort zone and see anything outside of their comfort zone as “risky behavior.” The sad news is that sometimes it is more expensive to stay where you are than to step out of your comfort zone and do something really cool. It’s kind of the “I-could-have-been-a-contender” syndrome. When people miss their “lucky break,” they tend to justify their surroundings, blame others, and slip into a learned helplessness pattern I call “I-could-have-been-a-contender” syndrome. Risk gets a bad wrap, for all the wrong reasons.

Risk Management Defined (as it relates to your small business)

How often can you fail and do it again? Think of it in terms of trading the financial markets. If you invest 100% of your capital in one trade, you have about a 50/50 chance of having any money left. You may have huge gains or lose everything. If you invest 1% of your capital and you lose your position, you still have 99% left. You’re not going to experience massive gains, but over time they will accumulate into the habit of winning. The same thing is true with your business. You’ve only got one farm. If you bet it and lose, you’ll have no farm.

“The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying.” –Tom Hopkins

The Other Side of Risk Is Reward

If you keep looking over the edge of the high dive, you’ll never jump. If you think of the thrill and exhilaration of falling through the air into a nice warm swimming pool below, you won’t hesitate to jump. The reason that we take risks in business is for a perceived reward. Without reward, risk is just taking risks for the sake of taking risks. If you take intelligent risks and manage your exposure to risks your chances of getting rewarded increase dramatically.

Business is a People Thing

May 21, 2013 by Michael Neely

People are everywhere, right? Considering that my first small business successes came as buying and selling stocks, doing business face-to-face with people was something that took a while for me. Now that technology is everywhere, you are still doing business with people on the other end of the Internet connection.

In October 1989, I was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, and my life changed completely. My entire business experience until then was investing in the stock market and a few other instruments profitably. I had never done any interpersonal business yet. It was technically, the first day of my business career. I took a chunk of my savings ($3000) and mailed it to a company that had published an ad in the Tuscaloosa News, and I was suddenly in business for myself, without any clue what I was doing. The ad had specified that there was no selling involved and that I would make $100K per year! I thought that this was perfect for me. I had just gotten out of the military, I had limited “people” skills and apparently I didn’t need any! Then, the 100K per year didn’t come. What did come in were many customer inquiries. I now know them as leads, but back then, they were people who ALMOST bought my product. The distributor support person on the phone said “You have plenty of leads now. All you have to do is close them.” Thus, became my first realization that business is a “people thing.”

My First Business Job

After I ended my first business learning experience in January 1990, I got a job as a manager-in-training for a (now-defunct) jewelry store chain. It was here I learned that businesses need real customers and potential customers to walk through the door BEFORE I could make any money. I was reasonably good and had a great teacher and mentor. I managed a store in Meridian, Mississippi and a recession and mounting personal problems washed away my small successes. I did retain the knowledge I had gained from managing someone else’s business before going off on my next adventure. Sure, I knew what to do if someone came to town and wanted to buy a $3000 diamond solitaire (and it did happen a few times). I didn’t know how to find these people and get them inside the store. My hands were also tied by a strict marketing budget from our home office. It’s no surprise that the company doesn’t exist today.

Technology Changed, But People Haven’t

Since then, the Internet has come along, and everything is different. What used to cost thousands and thousands of dollars (as far as marketing and market research is concerned) now costs very little compared to the early 1990’s. There are a lot of great technology tools to market with these days like social media and search engines, but people haven’t changed that much. The Internet has given us tools with which to communicate more, but have you ever gotten in an argument with someone after “texting” because you couldn’t see the expression on their face or hear the tone of their voice? Words alone on a screen are OK for communication, but it’s not the whole picture. Technology is great for getting in front of the people you want to sell to, but closing that sale over the internet isn’t as great. In order to sell effectively, you have to communicate that you care about their needs. Technology can sometimes get in the way of communicating that you care about your prospect’s needs.

Although the way we communicate has changed, but we as organisms haven’t. We still need to see the expressions on their face and the tone of their voice of our conversational counterpart to communicate effectively.

Technology Doesn’t Buy Things; People Buy Things

When you are tweaking the SEO on your web site, there is a tendency to think in numbers. How much traffic? What’s the bounce rate and how can we improve it? What is out search engine ranking on Google? These are great questions to answer, but the object is still to have your web site noticed by someone who will buy from you. A Google “spider” will not buy from you, but someone who visits your web site and says “Hey, that makes sense” will. No one gets a job by posting a LinkedIn profile, but a job seeker can find someone with whom to have lunch, who can direct them to a better job.

“The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” -Peter F. Drucker

Since the overall purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer, the use of technology in business should keep the end-user in mind. The purpose of SEO (and other tech solutions) is to find and connect with a human on the other computer who can and will buy from your business. Even with all the technology that we have today, business is still and always be a “people” thing.

My Sober Date Four Years Later

May 6, 2013 by Michael Neely

No alcoholic beverages — Source: iStockPhoto.com

I joined the ranks of the sober on May 5, 2009. I had always envisioned myself as the brash, hard-drinking, hard-smoking business guy. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The truth was that I was living in a very small apartment (long-term motel room) as I had for the last 7 or so years, drinking at least a six-pack of beer every night at home. I no longer could afford the bar tabs that I generated. I used to call it “networking” when I went out to justify my drinking (even though, sometimes, I really was networking). I would go for stretches without drinking, usually lasting about 45 days. This was just long enough to convince myself I didn’t have a problem. Then, I’d celebrate the little successes I had over those 45 days, usually erasing my successes and returning to the troubled things as they were. This time, after a four-day bender, I was laying in bed, feeling the pounding in my chest and feeling like hell. I wondered that my heart was going to stop or explode. All I could think about was everything I had not accomplished.

On May 5, 2013, I celebrated four years sober. My life is much different now than it was before I started living my life sober. I’m not writing this to anyone in particular, but if someone out there is considering making this lifestyle adjustment, here is how my life has improved over the last four years sober.

I live in a Nicer Apartment

I live in a nice apartment for the first time in about 13 years. I don’t have any roommates, and I pay the rent on time. I was living in a long-term motel for about 6 years since I moved to Atlanta. I once lived on a picnic table in Coral Springs, FL for about 2 months. The apartment I recently moved into is a huge improvement.

I Have Fewer Problems When I am Sober

I was never in trouble with the law, but I did have problems that would just appear out of nowhere. I have noticed that I have fewer problems happening than I did when I was drinking. Life is no longer about battling from one problem to the next, but is stable and getting more enjoyable.

I Have a Clearer Sense of Direction Sober

I know what the next thing I need to work on is when working on personal and business goals. I have a better idea of where I am going and what I am doing.

I Don’t Feel Compelled to Drink Alcohol Anymore

I actually tried this recently. I went to a bar after work with some friends and didn’t drink alcohol. I had my long-time favorite Coca-Cola. I had a lot of them. No one made fun of me, and no one shunned me. The bartender was actually very friendly, but I also tip very well under those circumstances. I don’t frequent bars, but I no longer fear attending social functions where other people are drinking.

I Get a Lot More Done Sober

If you ever are wondering about where you are going in life, track your time and your money. This will lead to your greatest priorities. The question then, is “Is my time and my money going to my greatest priorities?” I tried this little experiment in late 2008 and discovered that my life’s purpose was drinking instead of what I thought it was. I don’t spend a few hours every night drinking and a few more hours every morning recovering physically. If you want a different perspective, doing that equates to the same amount of time a part-time job takes.

I like Myself a Lot More Sober

I like myself a lot more. This is more like a net result of all the other things I have mentioned already, but I genuinely like myself a lot more. I am building a few new web sites and working on building some business concepts and doing what I have always wanted to do.

My life, in general, is a lot better sober. If you think that you would like to try living sober, then I highly recommend it.