Advice for small business owners

I have been working with small business owners for 18 years now. It sure was a culture shock 18 years ago when I got thrown out of the corporate offices and I landed on the parking lots of Chamber of Commerce(s), BNIs, Leads groups, Meetups with lots of free food and wine. I later learned from various articles that this is the ‘real america’. I was fortunate to live in the ‘fake america’ for over 20 years before I was forced to get ‘real’. This is the america where they do not glorify their gross income and fool others to invest in their businesses. Real america does not know how to play this game. They only keep looking at their net income and pop in pain killers and listen to motivational speakers telling them over and over again — “Failure is a stepping stone to success’, “Try try try — never give up” stories that will lull them to sleep for the night and the following day will start in panic all over again in the morning.

I am at a point in life where I can give advice to other small business owners now and I am grateful that I still have a sound mind and body after I became one of ‘real america’ statistics that politicians keep wanting to ‘help’.

The following techniques have worked for me as a small business owner. Try it and share it with our own kind of course.

1. Always have food in the car and in your office. Keep food that you enjoy eating and it should be easy to eat like nuts, raisins, cookies etc.
2. Never go hungry to a lunch meeting. It is a complete waste of time if you are supposed to be ‘networking’. When you are hungry you can never concentrate on whatever the other person is talking about.
3. When you are in a lunch meeting, order foods that are easy to eat and that does not spill all over yourself. Pick on your food and concentrate on the other person.
4. When you are in a networking group, always carry a large purse with pouches that are easy to get into (men can carry a zippered pouch that holds a tablet). Keep your business cards handy in one pouch and store the business cards you collect in another pouch. Write a quick note on the business card you picked up from the other person.
5. Do not try to network with everybody in the room. Scan the room and find the person you think you will gel with. It’s a hit or miss thing and you need to take your chances.
6. Never drink alcohol when you are networking. But find a person who is drinking alcohol to network with when there is a large crowd. If you are a introverted shy person who just hates networking, this is a good technique since the person who is drinking alcohol will carry the conversation for you.
7. You should always eat lunch alone in your office or your car most of the times. This is your down time. Turn off your email and phone for an hour. If you are at your desk, eat and browse the internet on topics of your interest other than your business.
8. It’s always a good idea to meet potential clients in your place of work or their place of work if possible. This is more efficient since in ‘real america’ we really do not make deals over lunch or dinner. It is an expense where you can deduct only 50% from your gross income.
9. Buy gift cards to certain restaurants or get the Passport discount card to restaurants and try networking only in these designated restaurants. Then you can deduct 100% of this expense from your gross income.
10. Never check your email(s) as soon as you wake up in the morning. Pick up your phone and read about anything other than business. Calm your mind by reading about stuff that you love. Tell yourself that the day is going to be positive in ‘real america’. Read about the ‘fake america’ on your phone and amuse yourself before you get out of bed.
11. Try not to check your email(s) after 8PM as well. This is what is stressing out most of ‘real america’.
12. When you check your email(s) on weekends, make sure the first line is visible in your email settings when you are checking on your phone. Do NOT read the email when you know it is from a problem client. This is what ruins most weekends for ‘real america’.
13. Follow, Friend and be in Circles that will educate you about your business sector. Knowledge is power. Keep reading on your phone or other devices that are easy to carry around to the yard, restaurant, walks etc.
14. Try to exercise or walk either in the morning or evening. Talk to your family on the phone if you are walking. We become so busy as small business owners that there is very little time for family. Do not talk about your business to your family.

I have a lot more advice for ‘real america’, but, I have to work on increasing my net income. So later my fellow business owners.