Lean Accounting vs. Traditional Cost Accounting

bob hat · Guest

Import-export.

If you use FexEd or UPS they will help you with the after the export/import
paperwork and paying the duty/taxes.

About 14 years ago I ran the import/export business for FedEx in Canada, so
my knowledge may be a bit outdated.

You do not need a customs broker, but may which one for your first
shipment - this should cost no more then $250.

Take a look at the US International Trade Commission Homepage at
www.usitc.gov and at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm for the
harmonized code and duty rate - chapter 49 covers printed material.

You will need a business registration id, maybe a tax id. For each shipment
you will need an invoice, the invoice will need a couple of extra lines of
information as follows:

- The fair market value of the goods (the value of the good sold to someone
at the same trade level that the importer was, such as wholesaler, retailer,
salesperson's sample (which is usually the cost of material only), consumer
etc)

- The actual transaction price (what was being paid for the goods being
sold) - Duty & Taxes are calculated on the higher of the fair market value
or the transaction price.

- The harmonized code (the same fist 6 digits are used in most counties) for
the goods being imported (see

For Books the harmonized code are:

4901.99.00.93 (Soft Cover Books)

4901.99.00.70 (Hardbound Other Books)

4901.99.00.65 (Picture Books other then for children)

4901.99.00.50 (Technical Books)

4901.99.00.40 (Religious Books)

4901.99.00.30 (Directory Books)

4901.99.00.10 (Textbooks or Educational Books for
training)

4901.91.00.20 (Dictionaries & Thesauruses Books)

4901.91.00.40 (Encyclopedia Books)

4903.00.00.00 (Children's Picture Books- where the
pictures form the

principal interest and the text
is subsidiary.)

4911.10.00.20 (Catalogs & Promotional Books - that do not
fall into one of

the categories)

4911.10.00.60 (Catalogs & Promotional Books - where the
content relates to

tourist and other literature,
containing geographic, historical,

hotel, institutional, timetable,
travel or similar information,

principally with respect to
places, travel facilities or

educational opportunities outside
the customs territory of the

United States)

4911.10.00.40 (Catalogs & Promotional Books - where the
content relates to

a person whose principal place
of business or bonafide

residence is in a foreign
country, to sell or rent products of a

foreign country or to furnish
foreign or international

transportation or commercial
insurance services)

4911.10.00.20 (Catalogs & Promotional Books - where the
content relating

principally to current offers
for the sale of United States

products)

For Reproduction proofs the harmonized code is:

4901.10.00.20 (paper proofs, single sheets but not bound)

- If the books have any advertising; other then promoting the author,
his/her works, the publisher his/her works or the book its self; it should
be states and as such the advertisement might increase the duty rate from
free to 25%.

"Kao-Ly Yang" <kaoly@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:114f9uf6s9o2q55@news.supernews.com...
Quote:
Hello,

I am interested in opening a publication company. I wonder how I could
proceed legally. I also want to know what I should do to have more
information regarding import-export because I would like to print my book
in
Southeast Asia then transport them to the US.

Thanks

KL

anthony baker · Guest

thanks

ivan sutton <simonsayez@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:<115olft7mern386@news.supernews.com>...
Quote: Another idea for a home based business is being a service reseller. For
Instance, printing broker, where you sell printing services, co-ordinate the
design, proofing and printing for clients that you own, manage and build.
In this area, there is also resellers of marketing services, event planning,
website development.

There is a client of ours that started an office supply on-line order
service for his area of the city. He spent his mornings selling and
building clients, and since all orders are done on-line, he spent the
afternoons delivering the products. Some products he pays retail, and other
products he has suppliers. On all orders he charges a small delivery
charge.

Service companies like that one could be a viable alternative to the other
suggestions.

Good Luck going forward.

Simon
"anthony baker" <gamesburn@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:115bvacgvho2s08@news.supernews.com...

hi
does anyone know of any businesses that can be started from home with
$4000 usa dollar ?
thanks
anthony

Quester · Guest

Hi Robert,

As an advertising and pr copywriter, I've heard that line many
times..."We'll do it ourselves." Maybe so, but my experience with clients
going that route is that it just doesn't get done (particularly if they
don't have a dedicated pr person on board).

Most non-writers don't realize the amount of work that goes into an article,
or even a simple news release, and day-to-day business pressure has a way of
short-circuiting any planned pr work. And what about your writing skills?
Editors can quickly spot amatuerish work, so you'd better be talented (not
only do you need to be able to communicate clearly, but also write in
free-flowing editorial style). Best wishes in your efforts, but don't
underestimate what's involved.

Gordon
www.beckcopy.com

"Robert Anderson" <nospam@nonespam.com> wrote in message
news:112vpvsrctoml12@news.supernews.com...
Quote:

"Maren Purves" <m.purves@jach.hawaii.edu> wrote in message
news:112v72kdh809m79@news.supernews.com...

Robert Anderson wrote:
We have retained a PR firm. They have presented us an elaborate plan
that
includes news releases of things like new hires, client wins, etc.

Some of things they suggest (such as by lined articles) we think can
generate leads. However, some of the things they are suggesting seem
like
fluff. Generating leads is our goal. We don't really feel the need to
tell
the media every time we hire someone or buy a new copy machine or
something.
:-)

while a PR firm may be better at this, you can do that yourself
if you have to save that money, but do it.

We are going to try and do it ourselves. We may actually be able to do it
better than a PR firm. We know our industry.

--
Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson · Guest

"Quester" <GordonBeck@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:116cs7n6lmlbo5a@news.supernews.com...
Quote:
Hi Robert,

As an advertising and pr copywriter, I've heard that line many
times..."We'll do it ourselves." Maybe so, but my experience with clients
going that route is that it just doesn't get done (particularly if they
don't have a dedicated pr person on board).

Most non-writers don't realize the amount of work that goes into an
article,
or even a simple news release, and day-to-day business pressure has a way
of
short-circuiting any planned pr work. And what about your writing skills?
Editors can quickly spot amatuerish work, so you'd better be talented (not
only do you need to be able to communicate clearly, but also write in
free-flowing editorial style). Best wishes in your efforts, but don't
underestimate what's involved.

Well, we have successfully published articles and we have a weekly meeting
dedicated just to PR planning.

--
Robert Anderson

Scott Jensen · Guest

"Jon Morris" <jonathanlmorris@yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote: Does anyone have any real experience with business
plan software?

Yes, I have a lot of experience with them. While I was a marketing
consultant (I'm now a Marketing Director for a company), I dealt with
numerous clients that used such programs.

Quote: I've read tons of reviews about all sorts of products
availble but I'm looking for someone with real life
experience...

Has anyone used this kind of software? did you like
it? which one???

None of them. They're not worth anything ... even if they paid you use to
use them. Instead...

Go to your public library and pick up a book about writing a business plan.
Skim through it to see if they give a comprehensive example of what a plan's
Table of Contents should look like. Look it over. Does it match your
business plan's needs? If you're unsure about a section title, read the
book's section on it. The book I like using ... though it has a corny title
..... for its Table of Contents example is "Business Plans that Win $$$:
Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum" by Stanley R. Rich and David E
Gumpert (Harper & Row, 1985 ... here's where you can buy it on Amazon.com:
http://tinyurl.com/c2owq ). Their Table of Contents example is on pages
32-33. Then you simply open up a word document, copy the Table of Contents
into it, and start throwing your business ideas into the appropriate
sections.

And if you want to truly succeed in business, what I suggest is you read my
standard advice for wannabe entrepreneurs. It follows below.

"What I recommend you do is determine what your sales territory is. What's
its radius? Double that and add a healthy 10% more distance then go and
talk to people out that distance that are in the same business you want to
start up. Literally drive there. Do not do the following over the phone or
email or through snail mail. Show up on their doorstep during the slow time
of their business day. Tell them that you want to start up a similar
business at such-and-such location and if they would consider you
competition. If they say you would be, drive further away from your
proposed business location until you find a business that says you won't be.
If you have to go to a different country, do so.

If your business' sales territory is theoretically the world (i.e., a
mail-order catalog or an online-only business), forget about the territory
stuff above and simply look for businesses that are doing business HOW
you're going to do yours but NOT selling the same thing(s) as you. For
example, if your business is a mail-order catalog that sell special dusters
for silk top hats, go and talk to people that sell food by mail-order but
not anyone that sells clothes. Hunt for them, find out their corporate
addresses, and go visit those closest to you.

HOWEVER, do not interview franchisees. They are following a very detailed
plan on how to run their businesses. These plans are very good, but
franchisees have done nothing to write those plans up and literally just
bought them ... thus are useless to you and your pursuit of knowledge.
Franchisees are a murky mutant between an employee and an entrepreneur.
Their franchiser is the one that figured out how things are to be profitably
done and the franchisee is just following suit. As for franchisers, don't
talk to them either or you will have just given them their next expansion
location. HOWEVER, this does not mean you shouldn't consider becoming a
franchisee. It should always be an option you should consider. Not the
only option, but one of them. But even if you know deep down that you'll
eventually be a franchisee, you need to still do the research I'm laying out
here so it is an informed decision. And if after doing all the following,
you (still) decide to become a franchisee, interview ALL the different
chains for your type of business you want to start up and LOTS of
franchisees in each chain to find the one that's best for you. But that's
after you do the following and let's now get back to that.

Once you find a business that says your two territories won't overlap, ask
if they wouldn't mind answering some questions about how to start and run a
business like theirs. Play to their egos and they'll love to talk to you.
Everyone likes to feel important and worth listening to ... especially
business owners when it comes to their businesses. Have a list of questions
written out on a notepad, but do NOT write down their answers. Instead,
bring a tape recorder (yes, put it right out in the open ... no need for
spyware ... and besides it plays to their egos as their words are being
treated as worthy of being recorded) and concentrate on getting as much
information out of them as possible ... as well as picking up the other half
of the answers they give in body language. If they say something you don't
understand, speak up and ask for clarification. Let them wander off your
list of questions since where they wander to might be a place you never
thought of asking questions about and should have been. However, keep an
eye on the questions you've written down and try to ask them all before the
interview concludes. Of course, always yield to customers that come in,
but, naturally, try to continue the interview after the customers leave so
you get answers to all your questions.

After you've interviewed one owner, don't interview another but go home and
digest what was said. Listen to the tape on your way home. Think it over.
Adjust your business plan accordingly. Adjust the questions on that notepad
and then on your next free day (or the following day if you've got both
off), head off in another direction and do the same thing. Try to interview
at least twenty businesses. A hundred businesses would be ideal. Interview
the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you're lucky, you'll interview one that
is going out of business or has just went out of business so you can hear
about the dark side ... as well as possibly pick up good equipment,
inventory, and supplies for a song. Likewise, interview those businesses yo
u think are bad. Keep in mind that since they're still in business, they
are probably doing something right ... if just being the only game in town
for your products/services.

Share as you give. Let them know what you think is a good idea and they may
tell you their own gems. Don't get paranoid that they'll steal your good
idea. They will! Or rather, you should HOPE they will as that means your
ideas are actually good ones. These are the individuals that are the best
judges of your business ideas. However, you'll never know if your business
ideas are good unless you tell these business owners them ... or blow a ton
of money actually doing the idea and thus finding out the hard way. Also,
if you're not willing to share, don't expect them to as well. In fact, it
will likely take you telling them your best idea for them to tell you
theirs. Also, ask them to read over your business plan right there before
you. Naturally, don't leave a copy of it behind. What one of these
business owners is going to tell you will be better than ALL the advice from
ALL the business professors on the face of the Earth. Even from the ones
that are going out of business! These business owners are DOING IT RIGHT
NOW ... whereas business professors live in the fairyland of academia. Oh,
and that smack-down goes the same for SBA's Small Business Development
Centers (which are manned by business professors and burnt-out business
executives) and SCORE (which is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase: "Grumpy
Old Men Waiting To Die").

And don't stop doing this after you open your business. At least once a
month (if not once a week), visit still more businesses. And for one
afternoon, make this part of any vacation or business trip you take
anywhere. In fact, you'll very likely get more out of these interviews
AFTER you open your business than before you did. After you open your
business, you can really start to talk shop since you're now currently
running a shop. This worked great for a little-known starting-out
pizza-parlor owner by the name of Tom Monaghan ... the founder of Domino's
Pizza.

Don't forget these individuals after you interview them. Once you get home
from interviewing them, send them a nice thank-you snail mail letter for
taking the time to answer your questions. When your business opens, send
them an invitation to come and see it. Ideally, hold a special Grand
Opening dinner and invite all the good business owners you interviewed to
it. Give them a group tour of your business (no matter how small the shop
is ... even if it is a desk and a computer in a corner) and then treat them
to a nice meal. I'd recommend a barbeque at your house/apartment so it is
informal and relaxed. Do NOT drink alcohol or do drugs at this dinner.
Listen, listen, and listen some more. You've got the most valuable think
tank right there eating your hamburgers. They'll just naturally talk shop
and focus most of that talk on YOUR shop. The only downer of all this is
that it would be bad form for you to tape record it. However, you can put a
small notepad in your back pocket and when someone tells you something good,
whip it out and write the thing down. It will again play to their ego and
will actually get the other business owners there to open up as it plays to
their egos and competitive spirit.

Now if you want to really succeed, see if the good ones are also willing to
sit on your Board of Directors (or Board of Advisors, if you don't want to
give them any control power). The rest of your Board of Directors should be
made up of marketers (at least have one) and one and only one accountant.
I'd recommend the board number nine. Your Board of Directors will help you
keep the big picture in mind and an eye on the future.

Lastly, if you're not willing to do the above, you don't have what it takes
to start and succeed at your own business. Period."

Additionally...

"Work on a business plan. Regardless if you're going to get a business loan
or not. A business plan forces you to think of all aspects of your
business. Question every aspect of it. Think how you can do it better,
cheaper, and faster. Always remember to K.I.S.S. it. Keep It Simple,
Smartass. [Yes, I know it is usually said as "Keep It Simple, Stupid", but
it is the smartasses that make things more complex and difficult than they
need to be. Stupid people keep it simple (usually too simple) because
they're stupid.] And forever keep in mind that this is a business you're
starting and a business is to turn a profit. It doesn't turn a profit and
it's just an expensive hobby of yours. Your goal should be for the business
to work for you and not you work for it. Your end goal should be that you
don't have to even show up at the business for it to turn a profit. Golf,
anyone? If you need to always be at the business for it to turn a profit,
the only thing you've made is a job for yourself. If that's all you want,
don't start a business (and all the headaches it entails) and just go work
for someone else.

As for how much time to invest into your business plan, studies have shown
that those that work less than six months on their business plan have a 90%
failure rate. Those that work six months or more on their business plan
have a 90% success rate. And to start off, get a copy of Michael Gerber's
"The E-Myth". It's real value is helping you determine if you're a
Technician, Manager, or Entrepreneur. Be honest with yourself and you'll
save yourself a lot of grief."

Also...

"The lifeblood of capitalism is communication between businesses and their
customers/clients. Yes, this means advertising, but that's just one aspect
of the communication I'm talking about. There's also public relations (such
as appearing on local radio talk shows), business image (everything your
customers see), and, most important of all, word-of-mouth. Approach all
expenditures on such communications as simply an investment. Track how much
you spend and what profits it generates for you. Be always willing to
experiment with new approaches but discontinue unprofitable ones once
they've shown themselves to be this. If you employ a marketing firm, hold
them accountable. Ditch them if they don't produce profits for you after
six months. Don't let emotion decide their fate. Let's the cold hard facts
of accounting be the heavy. And nothing gets a marketing firm to work hard
for you more than them knowing you expect results and will ditch them if
they don't produce.

As for what gets you the best bang for your advertising buck, that would be
postcard advertising ... as long as you have a message that can be
relatively short and concise. The key to postcard advertising is the
mailing list. The fresher the list, the better. You want to target those
who will most likely become your customers/clients. Spend a lot of time
thinking over who this might be. Once you're in business, find out the
demographics and psychographics of your customers and market to those. As
for the postcard itself, EVERY single word on it should be carefully chosen.
The goal of the postcard is to get its recipient to take some form of
action. That action could be calling and/or visiting your business or
visiting your business' website. The best way to get them to visit your
physical location is to make the postcard a meaningful coupon they can use.
Use color, bold, and all caps in the text of the postcard sparingly and to
just give impact to key words. ALWAYS send out two differently designed
postcards. One to one half of the mailing list and the other to the other
half. Design them so you can track results, such as giving different
telephone numbers to call. If one pulls in more than the other, try to
figure out why that happened and test that theory in your next dual mailing.
Advertising should always be considered to be fluid and not etched in stone.
Adjust with the times, be topical, and always be willing to experiment.

Now if you put up a website for your company, do NOT take the attitude of
"If I build it, they will come." That only works in Hollywood movies.
Instead, work to get your website high in the results generated by search
engines for keywords that potentials customers might enter into a search
engine to find you. To get a high ranking on such search engines, you need
links linking to your website. One way of doing this is by posting a lot to
newsgroups and online forums with a link to your website in your post's
signature. If you post to newsgroups and online forums whose topics of
discussion involve your business in some way, you might also be able to
directly get customers that way. However, this is very time consuming and
requires you to be a good prolific writer. If you're not, hire a service
that will work to get your website a high ranking in results generated by
search engines. You pay them a small monthly fee and they work to keep your
ranking near or at the top. A link to one such company is in my signature
at the end of this tome. I'm the Marketing Director for that one. Engage
it or one like it. View it as simply an advertising expense. For if you
don't work/pay to get your website high in results generated by search
engines, don't bother putting up a website. That would make as much sense
as putting up an unlit billboard in a dark alley."

And finally...

"Barter, barter, barter! Almost all businesses can barter with other
businesses. This is a great cheap way for you to get something (product or
service) you need for your business for a fraction of its cost ... if not
essentially free. Think what other businesses have that your business
needs. Not wants, but NEEDS. Don't overdo barter or you'll be strapped for
cash. Now think what they (or their family members) might need or want from
you. Note I also said "want" this time. If they foolishly use barter for
their desires, that's up to them. Don't you make that judgment call for
them. One person's desires can be another person's needs. Now go and talk
to them about a trade.

Lastly, ONLY buy used. Never buy new anything that doesn't ABSOLUTELY have
to be new. All it has to look like is being in good condition ... and not
even that if it's in the backroom and your customers will never see it. Go
to sheriff auctions, business liquidation sales, and garage sales; scan the
classified ads in newspapers; browse the online auction sites (like eBay);
and hunt for bargains. Find a place to store these bargains during this
collection phase. This collection phase usually takes about six months ...
which is just fine since that's the minimum amount of time you should be
working on your business plan anyway. The key to being a business success
is keeping your start-up expenses as low as possible and buying used is one
of the best ways to do this. [The other way is barter.] If you do buy
something new, it should be with a great deal of thought on why it has to be
new and not used. Again, if the customers see it, it only needs to LOOK
like it is in good condition and that's it."

Good luck!

Scott Jensen
--
58% of surfers never look beyond what they find from search engines.
Rank on search results heavily determines how much your site gets hit.
Hit decrease is exponential the further from the #1 spot you're ranked.
Hire Fariel Consulting (www.fariel.com) to cheaply raise yours to #1.

Scott Jensen · Guest

"Robert Anderson" <nospam@nonespam.com> wrote:
Quote: Any thoughts on profit sharing? Is it a good motivator?
Does it give employees a greater sense of ownership
and greater drive to move the business forward?

I really don't think it is a good motivator at all due to how little any
individual employee -- except the Marketing Director -- can feel any sense
that they're really able to influence how well the company does as a whole.
And that includes the CEO ... unless he's also the Marketing Director. It
is a cute thing to say to new employees. But if you want to know how
meaningless it is to them, simply ask the new employee what it means to
them. I bet you'll either get silence (which is the truth) or some suck-up
"go team" statement (which they don't believe for a second).

What is a good motivator are clearly-defined realistic goals and associated
meaningful incentives to reaching those goals. No hoping everyone else does
their part, but letting them decide their own fate in their own hands.

Scott Jensen
--
58% of surfers never look beyond what they find from search engines.
Rank on search results heavily determines how much your site gets hit.
Hit decrease is exponential the further from the #1 spot you're ranked.
Hire Fariel Consulting (www.fariel.com) to cheaply raise yours to #1.

Scott Jensen · Guest

"Mark Carroll" <markc@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Quote: Surely there have to be more able, interested, motivated
people out there? How do we find them? Look for
non-traditional educational institutions? Recruit among
the technical hobbyists? (Like, if we want analog
electronics engineers, look at the ham radio clubs.)

How do you find them? That's easy. However, what I'm about to suggest is a
bit radical. Well, maybe a more than a "bit". *laugh*

First, you fire your HR Director and replace her/him with an experienced
marketing director. A marketing director that has never been part of a HR
department in their life.

Second, you tell the marketer what you want and they'll go out and get them
for you. Give them free rein over the HR department and tell them that they
can fire anyone they like. Don't be surprised the marketer fires ALL your
HR recruiters and replaces them with marketers and sales people. Also don't
be surprised that the only ones the new director keeps are the HR
secretaries and don't faint when the director promotes them to the more
clerical executive posts of the HR executives he's just fired. Oh, and
marketers and sales people are not one and the same. Two different
personality types and set of skills. A good marketing director knows how to
use them to get the results desired. Give the new director a while to get
up to speed. Given what you're talking about, it might take up to one to
two years for them to get up to full speed. During that time, allow them to
interview your current employees as much as they like. They're doing market
research when they do that. They'll also do other things that might seem
odd to a non-marketer but simply trust your marketing director.

Third, give them incentives to get the people you want. Marketers and sales
people are results-driven individuals. But to get results, you've got to
give incentives. Not token ones, but meaningful ones. This will likely be
a point of contention between you and the new director. However, you get
what you pay for. Remember that. Always remember that.

Fourth, let the marketing director run her/his department as they want to
run it. Marketers and sales people are high energy go-getters. For the
marketing director to keep them, he has to have the same department
atmosphere as you'd find in a top-notch marketing department. Gone are the
suits and ties. Action wear will be the norm. The Volvos and Toyotas that
the old HR people parked in the company parking lot will be replaced with
sports cars, Jeeps, and motorcycles. He'll also likely want to hire an
interior designer to remodel the department from likely distinguished
expensive woods and traditional to either art deco or modern. And don't
have a seizure when they have a beach party in the parking lot.

You do the above and you'll get the employees you're been wanting. Hell, I
know I myself could do it for you. Just reading your post, I even have a
rather clever idea on how I'd get who you want. However, there's no point
in telling you it since who you hire will have their own ideas and you
shouldn't impose one I have on them. As for how to get the kind of
marketing director that I think would be good for you, look for ones that do
not have an MBA in marketing. Think of a MBA in marketing as a big stick.
A stick that has beaten any sense of creativity out of the person that has
obtained it. Universities create drones (a.k.a. employees) and not
innovators. A bachelor's degree is fine. More than that isn't. No degree
is also fine. Honestly, what I would do is simply run ads in Advertising
Age telling how much you're willing to pay (the more, the better), what job
you're offering, and what you want to them to get you. Don't list
requirements. Just say if they think they can get you such employees, you
want them to apply. Then simply have all applicants for the HR director's
job take the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Test and weed out all but
those with the ENTP personality type. Yes, it is that simple. Then when
they show up for their interview, do not sit down for a chat but go for a
walk with them around your facility. Can they handle such an unorthodox
interview? Do they talk with energy? Do they smile? Do they make you
laugh? Do they give you straight talk and honest answers? Do they radiate
energy and drive? Do they have a clever idea how they would get you the
employees you desire? Hire the best candidate and set them loose.

Now am I serious that I could do the job? Yes. Would I want to? That's
another matter. I've just taken the position of Marketing Director for
company. You would have to throw a lot of money to get me to switch to you.
Am I expecting you to? Well, let's just say I'm not holding my breath that
you do. ;-) So instead I wish you courage to do what I recommend above and
good luck in finding a good marketing director that is willing to take up
such a challenge.

Quote: We do defense work and mostly have to hire US citizens.

This is the odd thing of your post. You have a UK email address.

Scott Jensen
--
58% of surfers never look beyond what they find from search engines.
Rank on search results heavily determines how much your site gets hit.
Hit decrease is exponential the further from the #1 spot you're ranked.
Hire Fariel Consulting (www.fariel.com) to cheaply raise yours to #1.

Robert Anderson · Guest

"Scott Jensen" <stj@charter.net> wrote in message
news:116jj08kma8jr29@news.supernews.com...
Quote:
"Robert Anderson" <nospam@nonespam.com> wrote:
Any thoughts on profit sharing? Is it a good motivator?
Does it give employees a greater sense of ownership
and greater drive to move the business forward?

I really don't think it is a good motivator at all due to how little any
individual employee -- except the Marketing Director -- can feel any sense
that they're really able to influence how well the company does as a
whole.
And that includes the CEO ... unless he's also the Marketing Director. It
is a cute thing to say to new employees. But if you want to know how
meaningless it is to them, simply ask the new employee what it means to
them. I bet you'll either get silence (which is the truth) or some
suck-up
"go team" statement (which they don't believe for a second).

Well, if people were real "go getters" on their individual jobs, the result
would be the company would move forward more robustly. Do you disagree with
that?

--
Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson · Guest

"Quester" <GordonBeck@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:116cs7n6lmlbo5a@news.supernews.com...
Quote:
Hi Robert,

As an advertising and pr copywriter, I've heard that line many
times..."We'll do it ourselves." Maybe so, but my experience with clients
going that route is that it just doesn't get done (particularly if they
don't have a dedicated pr person on board).

Most non-writers don't realize the amount of work that goes into an
article,
or even a simple news release, and day-to-day business pressure has a way
of
short-circuiting any planned pr work. And what about your writing skills?
Editors can quickly spot amatuerish work, so you'd better be talented (not
only do you need to be able to communicate clearly, but also write in
free-flowing editorial style). Best wishes in your efforts, but don't
underestimate what's involved.

By the way, I did not mean my "we can do it ourselves" thing to mean that we
have no need for any specialists. We have contracted a copywriter for a
project and we have contracted a graphic designer to do some Web design for
us. Both very talented people.

The problem we had is our PR consultant delivered no results so we figured
we could achieve more on our own...

--
Robert Anderson

___cliff rayman___ · Guest

Robert Anderson wrote:

Quote: "Scott Jensen" <stj@charter.net> wrote in message
news:116jj08kma8jr29@news.supernews.com...

"Robert Anderson" <nospam@nonespam.com> wrote:

Any thoughts on profit sharing? Is it a good motivator?
Does it give employees a greater sense of ownership
and greater drive to move the business forward?

I really don't think it is a good motivator at all due to how little any
individual employee -- except the Marketing Director -- can feel any sense
that they're really able to influence how well the company does as a
whole.
And that includes the CEO ... unless he's also the Marketing Director. It
is a cute thing to say to new employees. But if you want to know how
meaningless it is to them, simply ask the new employee what it means to
them. I bet you'll either get silence (which is the truth) or some
suck-up
"go team" statement (which they don't believe for a second).

Well, if people were real "go getters" on their individual jobs, the result
would be the company would move forward more robustly. Do you disagree with
that?

I used to be in favor of profit sharing, but I have changed my mind
after watching a company go from profits to losses and back again and
see what that did to the profit sharing and to the minds of the
employees. When management makes big errors, and it costs the employees
lots of money two levels below, then it is a huge demotivator. It is
much better to create "games" for groups of employees to play for things
they have control over. Establishing and measuring proper metrics for
good performance is a very important management task. Creating a good
game for the employees to play that utilizes those metrics and that
enhances the service to your customers, increases revenus and reduces
costs makes for a very successful enterprise.

--
_____cliff_rayman_____________________________________
Business Consulting and Turnaround Management
[web] http://www.rayman.com/
[web] http://all-clear-turnaround-management.com/
[eml] cliff __at__ rayman.com
[phn] 888-736-3802 x701
[fax] 818-743-7404
______________________________________________________

Scott Jensen · Guest

"Robert Anderson" <noemailaddress@nospamplease.com> wrote:
Quote: "Scott Jensen" <stj@charter.net> wrote:
"Robert Anderson" <nospam@nonespam.com> wrote:
Any thoughts on profit sharing? Is it a good motivator?
Does it give employees a greater sense of ownership
and greater drive to move the business forward?

I really don't think it is a good motivator at all due to how
little any individual employee -- except the Marketing
Director -- can feel any sense that they're really able to
influence how well the company does as a whole. And
that includes the CEO ... unless he's also the Marketing
Director. It is a cute thing to say to new employees. But
if you want to know how meaningless it is to them, simply
ask the new employee what it means to them. I bet you'll
either get silence (which is the truth) or some suck-up
"go team" statement (which they don't believe for a second).

Well, if people were real "go getters" on their individual jobs,
the result would be the company would move forward more
robustly. Do you disagree with that?

Yes, if the world was perfect and everyone did the part to their utmost
ability, that would be the case. Along the same lines, if everyone was
nice, we wouldn't need police officers.

Now back in reality, that's not how the world works. Slackers would be the
main beneficiaries (since they would be getting more for less work), your
"go getters" would resent that (and they'd begin slacking), and the whole
system collapses. That is why communism can never work. And profit-sharing
is a very socialistic idea. Very pro the collective. No, instead give
personal incentives. How the company becomes robust is by having each
employee working for their own individual benefit that also benefits the
company. Reward the productive and chop away dead wood.

Scott Jensen
--
58% of surfers never look beyond what they find from search engines.
Rank on search results heavily determines how much your site gets hit.
Hit decrease is exponential the further from the #1 spot you're ranked.
Hire Fariel Consulting (www.fariel.com) to cheaply raise yours to #1.

Robert Anderson · Guest

"Scott Jensen" <stj@charter.net> wrote in message
news:116m2q3mciuav83@news.supernews.com...

Quote: Well, if people were real "go getters" on their individual jobs,
the result would be the company would move forward more
robustly. Do you disagree with that?

Yes, if the world was perfect and everyone did the part to their utmost
ability, that would be the case. Along the same lines, if everyone was
nice, we wouldn't need police officers.

Well, the idea is that the incentive provided by profit sharing would
translate into harder work with the prospect of a greater reward as a result
of helping move the company forward more robustly.

Quote: Now back in reality, that's not how the world works. Slackers would be
the
main beneficiaries (since they would be getting more for less work), your
"go getters" would resent that (and they'd begin slacking), and the whole
system collapses. That is why communism can never work. And
profit-sharing
is a very socialistic idea. Very pro the collective. No, instead give
personal incentives. How the company becomes robust is by having each
employee working for their own individual benefit that also benefits the
company. Reward the productive and chop away dead wood.

Let's be clear about something: there is a difference between communism and
socialism. When I think of socialism, I think of Sweden -- a reasonably well
run country. In fact, more pleasant than the U.S. in some ways.

When I think of communism I think of the Soviet Union. A total disaster we
can all agree.

It is, however, a bit of a stretch to say that nothing based on socialist
principles can work. I can name a number of successful institutions that --
while not perfect -- are somewhat socialistic and run fairly well. I don't
really want to get in an extended debate about this matter as I am a
believer in capitalism and so if you made arguments for its merits you would
be preaching to the choir. That said, I don't believe the right thing to do
is to rule out any idea that involves any degree of communal thinking.

I do believe that it is quite possible that under the right circumstances, a
profit sharing plan could create a higher level of motivation among the
employees and could spark a productive esprit de corps among the employees.

--
Robert Anderson

Mark Carroll · Guest

Thanks very much for the replies here. Plenty to think about - rather
more than I had expected! This certainly remains a worthwhile forum.
At this stage I can at least add a bit more background that relates
to comments you made.

I can probably clear up some confusion: I'm pretty involved in both
the US and UK (passport, driver's license, accounts on people's
computer systems, business interests, contacts, etc.) We pipe Internet
feeds of radio stations from both countries into our stereo system, we
have PAL<->NTSC conversion kit, our home telephone plan costs us the
same whichever country we call, my computers' desktops have clocks for
both countries, etc. So, where I post from tends to have little to do
with where my current interests are: I have a few e-mail accounts on
both sides of the pond. Transatlantic connectivity is pretty good, so
when deciding what computers to log into I'm really not thinking about
where I am and where the computers are. I find it very interesting to
see how small technology is making the world. Right now, the main
thing that determines where I have to be is who I'm having to manage:
I still need enough face-to-face time with people to be sure that we
are seeing eye-to-eye. (Well, phrased like that, it seems obvious!)

The comment about us looking for personality traits that most
employers don't want, and not requiring good college degrees, made
sense to me. Some of our best employees, we hired in the knowledge of
"warning signs." For instance, a couple of people who have turned out
to be really good had references that made it clear that they'd have
difficulty submitting to things that they disagreed with, or didn't
actually finish their degree or did really badly for some quarters
(and could explain that).

Indeed, the "universities create drones" seems all too true, although
it doesn't seem to quite destroy them all. Both my wife and I have
personally had very frustrating university experiences, where there
was more rote learning and spoon feeding than real learning going on.
I guess that way the educators get to say that they covered the
syllabus, in a way that more of their students could cope with.

What we've found working for us once we have actually had people
apply, is to ask them to look at something that's new to them and
broadly clever and useful, and to not seriously interview them until
they've demonstrated some proficiency with the new thing. For the
people who can learn new things well, and who are motivated by
curiosity to investigate cool ideas, it's easy for them to achieve
this, and they are usually glad that we introduced them to some new
interesting thing. It's a great screen to save us time interviewing a
whole lot of people who did well in college courses but don't really
seem to have the attributes that we seek.

We just interviewed a guy this week that we like, actually. He also
has a couple of features that might scare a traditional HR person.
But, at least, we are managing to find some good people while we work
out how to improve the process. The applicability of marketing skills
is intriguing: how to find the right sort of person and get them
interested.

-- Mark

Scott T. Jensen · Guest

"Eric Handbury" <ehandbury@hotmail.com> wrote:
Quote: I am a very small company (6 employees), and one of my
software developers (there are 4 of them) is just average.
He is basically worth his salary and no more.

You get what you pay for. What you're saying is for what you paid, you've
gotten what you deserve.

Quote: He falls short on alot of expectations that I have, yet he
understands his area and produces some results.

No, you've just said he's given you what you've paid for. You seem to be
bitching that you didn't get something more for your money than you deserve.

Quote: I hired him as a contractor to get this new version of ours
over the line, then a full-time programmer quit so I made
him an employee. He was not my first choice when I
interviewed for the job.

What does him not being your first choice have to do with anything?

Quote: Obviously, as a small business, every dollar counts.

And it sounds like you're getting your money's worth.

Quote: So I am faced with a dilemna... continue with him since
he knows his area and training another developer would
take months, or fire him and go through the interview
process again to find someone stronger.

He's doing his job. He's giving you your money's worth. Why are you
complaining?

Quote: Anyone else have similar experiences... advise?

Stop complaining. After you do that, offer him incentives to increase his
output. He may or may not bite, but he's still doing his job adequately so
you really have no room to complain.

Scott Jensen
--
MARKETING FIRMS & AD AGENCIES:
58% of surfers never look beyond what they find from search engines.
Rank on search results heavily dictate how much clients' sites get hit.
Hit decrease is exponential the further from the #1 spot they're ranked.
Engage AdServius (www.AdServius.com) to raise your clients' rankings.

Robert Anderson · Guest

"Scott T. Jensen" <stj@charter.net> wrote in message
news:11av0soge9h7j72@news.supernews.com...
Quote:
"Eric Handbury" <ehandbury@hotmail.com> wrote:
I am a very small company (6 employees), and one of my
software developers (there are 4 of them) is just average.
He is basically worth his salary and no more.

I did not see the original post for some reason but now I have. Is this guy
really worth his salary or is he bad? Maybe you are a nice guy -- nothing
wrong with that -- and you are not saying what you really think. But do tell
us what you really think!

The other programmers make a similiar amount to him and are more productive?
Why do you think that is? Have you talked to this guy to try to figure out
what is going on? Maybe he needs more guidance from a more senior
programmer. Who knows. Talk to him. Try to figure out what is going on.

I'd say the next step for you (if you have not done so already) is to open
up the lines of communication...

--
Robert Anderson