Flip That “Bookkeeper”

My Dan’s Take moments come from a variety of triggers.  The latest came as I was watching an episode of the popular TV show “Flip This House”.  The episode featured two guys who were responsible for flipping a house in Atlanta.  They had their own company and had flipped many houses in the past, so they seemed to know what they were doing.  As they should, they started off by setting up a budget.  As with most flips, they started with an unrealistic budget and encountered unexpected costs along the way.  In order to cut costs and get the work done quickly, they went away from one of their normal, reliable  vendors and hired someone else who was willing to do one of the tasks much cheaper.  Not only did the new vendor not show up on time the day he was suppose to – he never showed up at all.   With the flip now behind schedule, the project manager ended up having to call his normal vendor to come in and finish the job (and save his butt).

Since I’m also in the construction industry (different company), I know how the thinking goes – How cheap can we get it done?  But in all industries, you must realize that cheap is not always better.  Wouldn’t you rather pay a little more if you could find someone who is reliable and productive?  Many small business owners don’t work from a budget; but if they did, I would safely guess that bookkeeping would not be one of the bigger numbers on that budget.  Bookkeeping work is tedious and not very much fun for most owners, so therefore they don’t put a high value on it.  But that can be a costly mistake.  How many companies do you know of that go bankrupt because they paid too much money for a bookkeeper?  Now think – How many companies go bankrupt or have serious IRS issues because they didn’t pay enough for a good bookkeeper or accountant?

So my advice to all you small business owners.  Don’t pinch pennies when looking for someone to manage your finances.  Think of this person as someone who is going to handle your personal checkbook.  Would you, or your spouse, hire just anyone to do that?  No!  So add some dollars to your bookkeeping budget this year and find out how valuable an investment this can be for your business.

You have how many friends??

I’d like to talk about something that I find bothers me about social networking.  It’s simply the  unbelievable  number of contacts  seen on LinkedIn profiles or the number of “friends” on Facebook profiles.

Let me just say this – If you have hundreds (some have 500+) of contacts on your LinkedIn profile, something is seriously wrong with your concept or idea of networking.  Are you trying to impress me??  I’m sorry, but I find it more vain than anything.  It’s almost as if you’re displaying that number as a badge of honor.  Do you win a prize from LinkedIn for having the most contacts?  There’s no way you can be effectively networking with all  500+ contacts.  You wouldn’t be able to work because all your time would be spent networking!!

And then you have the people on Facebook with hundreds of friends.  Wow….I can see that if you’re 90 years old or have lived in 10 different states as you were growing up, but really – you have THAT many friends?!  I must have a different definition of a friend than these folks.  I kind of look at it like this – are these  200 people going to show up for your funeral?  Are you receiving 200+ Christmas cards every year?  I’m sorry, but I’m a little more discriminating when it comes to adding you as my friend.  Just because you were in the same graduating class as me, or you met me at a dinner party a couple of weeks ago, does not make you my friend.  An acquaintance yes – a friend – not so much.  My friends are people that I grew up with, played sports with, dated, partied with, etc.  I know the names of their relatives.    I share memories with them.

Everyone is free to do what they please on these sites – that’s what makes it so fun and interesting.  But you’re not impressing me with all these big numbers.  I’ll do just fine with my realistic and manageable group of  true business contacts and friends.  They give me all the fulfillment I need to make it in life.

Is there really “stable employment” anymore?

In the last few months I’ve been interviewing many candidates for various opportunities within Steiner Business Solutions.  I’ve talked to some very talented people.  In fact, I’ve even made a couple of offers to these people, only to be turned down because they didn’t think the position was “stable” enough for them.  Hey, I don’t blame them for thinking this way.  Why wouldn’t you go to a Fortune 500 company, or some other well established company in Richmond when given the option.  I can’t begin to offer the perks, benefits and pay plans that these companies have been offering for years.  Well guess what…..these same companies that looked so appealing are now going bankrupt and these same candidates are out looking for work again.   What are they thinking now?   Is there such a thing as a “stable job” anymore?  My little company isn’t looking so bad now.  Here’s to the entrepreneurs and small business owners who battle every day with the “big boys” for customers and employees.  Maybe as these big, established companies start to downsize – or go away all together, the playing field will start to even out.  I, for one, will enjoy the game….