A FREE electronic magazine... November 6, 2002
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B I G B U C K S I N A B A T H R O B E
Make More Money & Have More Fun With Your Small Business!
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Publisher: Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
"David made over $5 million at home and wants to help you
do the same or more"
Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator of the #1 best selling
"Chicken Soup for the Soul" series
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TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN DECEMBER 4 IN AFRICA, INDIAN OCEAN,
AND AUSTRALIA!
If you have ever wanted to see a total eclipse of the sun,
now's the perfect time to go. It's the last one visible
from land until 2006!
Believe me, a total solar eclipse is an experience that will
change your life and your view of the world. Everything in
your physical world will change, for just a few minutes,
into something that cannot be experienced at any other time
or under any other circumstances. This will be my 9th eclipse,
and I intend to go to every eclipse for the rest of my life,
no matter where they occur. There's a reason why I keep
going back; discover for yourself!
If you'd like to find out more about booking an exciting
African safari and/or cruise with the added bonus of a total
eclipse of the sun, drop me a note! I can hook you up!
mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com
If you really want to do this, you better hurry; it's less than
a month from now!!
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I n T h i s I s s u e . . .
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1. A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
2. Feature: Article
"Lessons From the Dog"
3. Feature: "Ask Dave" - Can I help with a business problem?
The Laundromat
4. Feature: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."
Close encounter
5. About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
6. Who the heck am I, anyway?
7. How to get on or get off of this list
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS to each of your friends who have
small or home-based businesses; they'll LOVE you for it!
(Be sure they know it's from you, or they'll think I sent
it without asking, and we all know that's a no-no!) Thanks!
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11111 A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
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I was on the freeway yesterday and a box-truck passed me which
had the following painted on its side:
"Soleuride, Inc.
www.soleuride.com"
(Don't try that link... I don't remember the EXACT company name!)
That's all it said. I looked at it and wondered what the heck that
company did. A few seconds later, another truck went by
that had this painted on its side:
MBJ, Inc.
Warehousing and Distribution
Aha! I KNOW what THEY do!
Whether it's the side of a truck on the front of a business
card, it doesn't take much to make an ineffective piece more
effective. Why bother to go to the expense of painting the
side of your truck (or printing your business card, for that
matter) if it doesn't say anything?
Is it easy for people to tell what it is that you do?
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22222 A r t i c l e "Lessons From the Dog"
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By Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO(tm)"
Simone is one of our beloved dogs, a black standard poodle.
She weighs about 53 pounds and is as smart a dog as I've
ever known. Part of her job, being a dog and all, is going
in the car whenever she possibly can. In fact, she likes to
hang out in the car, sleeping in the back seat while it's
parked in the garage in the hopes that she will "get lucky"
and we'll drive off and take her with us. Right there, you
have a lesson in persistence and positive thinking!
The other day I went to the dentist in our two-seater sports
car and she came along for the ride. She stands in the
passenger seat, rear-end firmly planted against the chair-
back, supporting her weight on her front legs, which rest on
the front of the seat bottom.
Living in the mountains as we do, all of the roads are a
series of curves; we consider a "straightaway" to be any
stretch of road that goes longer than 100 yards without a
bend. So off we go, Simone and I, riding the curvy roads on
a beautiful day.
As you know, when you enter a bend in the road centrifugal
force tends to throw you to one side of the car or the
other, which would be a problem for a dog standing in a soft
automobile seat. But not Simone. She stands there,
watching the road ahead very intently. As we approach a
turn, she leans in the direction of the turn so as to
counter- balance the centrifugal force, thereby keeping her
comfortable position in the seat.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that she THROWS
herself into the lean. I'm driving along trying to watch
this dog throwing herself one way or the other before we
even enter the turn, laughing out loud and trying to keep
one eye on the road. She was so deep in concentration that
she was oblivious to me.
Then it hit me. She is adapting to her circumstances. She
is watching the road ahead, anticipating a change in her
situation, planning a course of action, and then executing
it when the change occurs. A curve to the right, then to
the left, another left, two more rights; it doesn't matter.
She never loses her balance because she is keeping her eye
on the road.
Pretty smart, huh?
Are you watching the road ahead of your business? Are you
anticipating changes based on what you see, and then acting
accordingly?
What kinds of changes should you look for? How about new
laws? What if they decide to impose a new tax on what you
do? Are you prepared to calculate it, invoice it, collect
it, account for it, pay it, and report it? What if there
are new licensing fees or restrictions on the type of
business you can run from your home? Are you prepared to
change how you run your business, or at least change how you
describe how you run your business so you will be in
compliance?
The economy is another good place to watch. Will consumer
spending habits affect your business? Perhaps it will
affect other businesses that are your customers. If people
are losing their jobs, will they need your product or
service less or more? Are you prepared for either?
How about the competition? If they come out with a new
product or service, will you be able to respond
competitively?
Watch those curves in the road, and then throw yourself into
a position to deal with what's coming. Simone knows how;
now you do too.
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33333 "A s k D a v e"
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(Can I help you with a business problem? I will field
business questions in every issue. Send them to
mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com )
Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will help you make "Big Bucks"!
(Maybe not!)
Today's question:
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My husband and I own a small laundromat in a very small town
in Kentucky. When we bought the laundromat it was in poor
shape and the equipment was also in poor shape. We decided
to replace the washers a little at a time, so in a 2-year
period we have replaced them all. In doing so we had to go
up a quarter on each load (we went from 75 cents to a
dollar); no big deal, right? Wrong: a lot of our customers
have started to go to the other laundromat in town, the only
other one, and it has equipment as bad as ours was. I am
confused. I thought paying an extra quarter would have been
worth it to get clean clothes, but apparently not. Should we
lower our prices back down to see if that helps and hope the
volume will help with lost revenue? Any advice would be
helpful. Thank you
D.D., Kentucky
Dear D.D.
Some thoughts...
1. You could certainly lower the price and see how the numbers
come out. But since you went to the time and expense of
upgrading your machines, I don't think you can do that.
2. Do your new machines REALLY get the clothes cleaner, or is
that a perception?
3. Here is something else you could try; something that would
cost you less than the quarter but save your customers more
than a quarter... give free detergent with every load. If you
buy the detergent in bulk it has to cost less than a quarter...
and that will save them more than buying it out of your vending
machine.
4. Is there anything else you could give away? Free drying, or
longer drying time for the money for example? The idea is to
give more VALUE than the other guy; sure your customers have
to pay more, but THEY GET MORE!
Let me know what happens
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44444 "M e a n w h i l e, b a c k a t t h e r a n c h..."
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A glimpse into the life of this "Stay-at-Home CEO"
(Photos and short bios of the complete "cast of characters"
are posted at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/theranch.htm )
The bear saga continues. As I mentioned earlier, the bears
(momma and two babies) go to the dumpsters at the school that is
behind our property. That property line is at the crest of a
hill, so it is higher than our home and also higher than the
school; neither can be seen from the other.
Because of the drought, we have been leaving two buckets of water
outside the fence along the corridor where they walk, and every
morning they are empty. I walk past them when I walk the dogs,
so I pick them up in the morning and fill them, then replace them
on the afternoon walk. (I feel like Gunga Din, walking up that
hill with a full bucket in each hand!)
...except for one day in particular; I forgot to replace them.
I finally remembered around 10:00 pm, but I was a little
intimidated to walk up there in the dark; what if the bears were
right there?? Chris suggested taking Emma with me; she would
surely bark if anything was there. Good idea!
Emma and I went out and I was about 20 feet from the gate with a
bucket in each hand, and she starting barking like crazy.
I froze.
I could see the crest of the hill from where I stood and whaddaya
know... there was the outline of a small bear, silhouetted in the
lights from the school, running along the fence line, followed by
a crashing noise as it rumbled through the trees and brush.
YIKES! Momma bear can't be far away!
Time for Dave to exit, stage right, water splashing all over.
The buckets spent the night in the garage.
-------------------- CHRIS' CANCER UPDATE
The final chemo is over! She wasn't as sick from this one as she
has been from prior treatments, but the fatigue has been worse
and lasted longer than before. Go figure. Plus, the mouth sores
are worse than before, and she has a new side effect: a sore
heel. This month she has 7 doctor visits, four of them at UCLA
(about a two-hour drive each way) in order to have the 2nd stage
of her reconstruction surgery (November 12) and to prepare her
for radiation treatments, which begin December 3. As usual, she
is facing it all with great courage.
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55555 A b o u t "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" N e w s l e t t e r
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66666 W h o t h e H e c k a m I, A n y w a y ?
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I've generated over $5 million (so far!) from my own home-based
software business and I have a lot to share with you about how I
did it and what I learned along the way. Now, as a professional
speaker, I offer programs that will help you and your employees
"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small or home-based
business!
Visit me at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com for descriptions of
the programs and educational resources that I offer.
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77777 H o w to S u b s c r i b e / U n s u b s c r i b e
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